Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 - Spring of Hope
by Jehuty1994
Summary: Hope, Love, Life. These are things that can't be artificially made. They are gifts. Join three unsuspecting teenagers as they enter a deadly battle against the Dark Hour and the colossal tower known as Tartarus. Will they walk out of this battle the same people they were before? [OC/Aigis]
1. Prologue

Title: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 – Spring of Hope  
Rating: Mature (Violence, Harsh Language, Sexual Themes, Religious Themes)  
Genres: Action/Adventure/Romance/Humour

Author's Note: To get the obvious stuff out of the way, yes, I am re-writing this story, giving it a complete overhaul. The thing you're probably wondering now is _'why?'_… Well, to keep things short, I was not happy with how it was turning out. I'm a perfectionist by nature, I don't release stuff that I consider to be half-assed if I actually give a damn about what I'm doing. And for the last few chapters, I was just winging it without a plan for later chapters, which I realised would come back to bite me in the ass MAJORLY. So, instead of finishing a story that would eventually become…well, crap, I would re-write it into something I WOULD be happy with. So, I hope you forgive me for doing this but I felt it was necessary. You might notice major changes between the old story and this one; this is all to keep with the new focus. As always, I would like to read your thoughts via review, PM, whatever you prefer. Alright then, I hope you enjoy.

~The Shin Megami Tensei series and the Persona series are properties of _'Atlus Co., Ltd.'_~

* * *

_Memento Mori – Remember that you are mortal_

_**Time never waits.  
It delivers us all equally to the same end.**_

_**You, who wish to safeguard the future,  
however limited it may be…**_

_**You will be given one year;**_

_**Go forth without falter,  
with your heart as your guide…**_

* * *

~**~  
Date: Monday 6th April 2012  
Time: Late Night  
Days until Full Moon: 3  
~**~

"You are late." I hear the voice of my friend reprimand me over the phone. I groaned, knowing that this would eventually happen and gripped my phone tighter, holding it closer to my ear.

"I'm sorry! I had some trouble at the train station." I explained, sitting down on the metal seat.

"I would understand if it was Becky- -" I heard an indignant _"hey!"_ in the background, "You, however, aren't usually that late. What could have held you up for that long?"

"Apparently, bringing a weapon into a train station is against the law." I said with a small smile. If it were anyone else, I would expect a funny reaction out of them, just for the absurdity of that statement. My friends though, they just sighed.

"You and your weird sense of humour. When do you think you'll get here?"

"To be honest, Sophie; I don't know. The train took a lot longer than expected to get here." I mused, standing up to look out the window now. The city lights illuminated the night sky, but they were slowly moving out of my sight as the train sped forward at a steady pace. My eyes caught the sight of a long bridge connecting the city to the nearby islands, but I quickly avert my eyes from it and brought my focus back on the conversation.

"Just remember to get here as soon as you can, alright?" She asked, "We got school in the morning."

Sophie, Becky and I were foreign transfer students. We had the opportunity to live in Japan for a whole year, and we were more than happy to accept. I loved Japan and its culture, but this city just brought up horrible memories from my youth.

"I know, but… Why here?" I asked, more to myself than to Sophie. I didn't realise where we were going at first, but as I walked through the city to the station, I slowly started to remember the time I was here when I was a kid, and what happened during that trip.

"I know you aren't happy about it, but let's try to make the most of our stay here, alright?" Sophie said in response. I sighed, collapsing back onto the seat. I conceded that she had a point; what happened in the past should stay there, and I should make the time I have here worthwhile.

"Yeah, you're right… By the way, what's the name of the school we're going to?" I asked, hoping to get off that topic.

"Gekkoukan High School. Didn't you read the pamphlet they gave us?"

"I was about to, but guess who decided to call?" I asked back, smiling once more. I enjoyed messing with my friends, especially when I know I have a point about whatever we were arguing about.

"…Quiet you."

I laughed wholeheartedly in response to her irritated tone.

"Haha! Listen, I got to go; the train's about to arrive at the station. I'll be at the dorm as soon as I can." I tell her, reaching above me to grab my bag. It was small but it had some stuff I couldn't be without; like my MP3 player, for example. Knowing that it'll be quite a walk from the station to the dorm we were staying at, I pull out said MP3 player.

"Alright. We'll be waiting for you… Be careful."

"Hey, I always am." And with that, I hung up. I walked to the doors and waited for the train to stop at Iwatodai Station. I placed the headphones on my ears and sifted through my albums until I found the song I wanted. When I had those headphones on, I was alone in my own little world. It blocked outside distractions and told everyone that saw me that I wanted to be left to my thoughts, and I usually am. I walked out the train doors as soon as they opened up, singing softly to myself the lyrics of _'Take Your Way'_. I knew the Japanese lyrics well enough, not enough to translate it into English by myself however.

'_Me no mae ni utsuru toi ni itsumo aimai de  
sono kotoba de nani ka ga  
kawaru nante omoi mo shi naku te  
wazuka demo umare ta kizuna ga nozomu nara  
fukanzen na yume demo miushinawa nai de'_

I paused the song, and looked up at the clock in front of me and was taken aback at what the time was.

_Did it really take me that long to get here? It's nearly midnight._

I watched the clock's hand tick closer to the 12 mark. Five, four, three, two, one, zero. And then, the world around me suddenly changed. The air became colder, the atmosphere became more oppressive and the environment changed as well; most of the objects around me turned a sickly green colour and pools of what looked like blood began to accumulate in random spots. I took a look out the skylight and saw that the night sky and the moon was coloured the same shade of green as everything else around me.

_What in the world…?_

That wasn't the only thing affected by this drastic change in my surroundings. I noticed that everything electronic was turned off; the ATM's, the escalators, the street lights, everything. This, naturally, extended to my MP3 player as well.

_Aw, really!? It was at the best part of the song as well!_

Curious about the state of the only other electronic item I had on my personage, I brought out my cell phone and flipped it open. It didn't light up.

_I DID charge these before I left for the airport, right?_

I shrugged my shoulders, placed my phone back in my pocket and pulled out the pamphlet we got before we came here.

_This shouldn't change what I have to do. Now, where is that dorm?_

Checking the directions, I started walking towards the dormitory. As I walked through the unusually empty streets of Iwatodai, I saw something that only served to confuse me even more. Lining the pavements were coffins, as far as the eye can see, there were only coffins. The pools of blood, which I now notice is actually water coloured red, were even more prominent here than in the train station.

_Has it always been like this at this time, and I just haven't noticed?_

I was surprisingly calm, given the situation I unwillingly found myself in. I eventually stumbled upon the dorm that the pamphlet told me about. Letting out of a sigh after all that walking I had to do, I gripped the handle and opened the door to my new home. The front hall was quiet, just like everything else around here. Despite the fact that the lights weren't working, I could still see certain features of the room; like the multiple couches off to my right, the small TV sitting near some potted plants, and the dining table off to the back, with roughly 8 seats sitting around it. Noticing that I still had my headphones on, I took them off and let them dangle around my neck. Before I had an opportunity to call out to someone, someone else already started speaking.

"You're late." A relatively young male voice said to me, "I've been waiting a long time for you."

I turn my head to look at the desk to my left. Behind it stood a boy, couldn't be any older than ten, looking up at me with those blue eyes on his pale face.

_He was waiting up for me? Damn trains._

"I'm sorry." I apologised, "I had some trouble with the trains, couldn't help it."

_How odd… Why do I have the feeling I've seen you before?_

The boy chuckled in response to my sincere tone.

"You're here now, and that's all that matters." He said before snapping his fingers, "Now if you want to proceed, please sign your name there." He pointed out the red folder that suddenly appeared on the table, much to my surprise. What came as even more of a surprise is that it opened up on its own to a specific point.

_That's a nice magic trick. Maybe he does that to entertain the new arrivals._

I stared at it for a few seconds before he spoke again.

"It's a contract." He simply said. I walked closer to it to get a better look.

"What kind of contract?" I asked, without taking my eyes off the piece of paper.

"Don't worry. All it says is that you'll accept full responsibility for your actions. You know… The usual stuff."

_Suppose there's nothing wrong with that._

I read through it once more, just to be sure. You can never be too careful when it comes to these things. One line in particular stuck out to me, compared to the rest of the perfect English, which in itself is a little odd, this part stuck out like a sore thumb. It stated that:

'_**I chooseth this fate of mine own free will.'**_

I pushed it to the back of my mind and picked up a pen that sat on the desk. I placed the tip on the paper and was about to write my name, until I remembered something.

_Oh yeah, it's Japan. They always do everything backwards; like manga, and my anime Blu-Ray box sets._

With that in mind, I wrote my last name first and then my first name.

'_**McHardy, Ross'**_

Once I was finished, the boy took the folder, closed it, and looked up at me once more.

"No one can escape time." He said, "It delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes." He held up the folder to me which disappeared into thin air. Before I could ask how he did that, he began to move back into a dark corner of the room. As he started to vanish into the darkness, he only had these parting words to say.

"And so it begins."

Leaving me alone and confused, I stared at the spot he was standing a few moments ago. It has been a strange night, and I was just about ready to get to sleep. When I made to call out to someone again, I was again interrupted by someone speaking.

"Who's there!?" A female voice cut through the darkness and grabbed my attention. Turning to the source of the voice, I saw a young female, roughly my age, standing a good distance away from me.

_Maybe she lives here?_

I started to move closer to her until I saw something unsettling. Near her thigh, I noticed what looked like a gun holster. I then noticed that the female was looking a little nervous and her hand was hovering over the weapon. I wasn't sure what she was going to do, a jumpy person in possession of a potentially dangerous weapon should set more than a few alarms off in someone's head. I tensed a little, preparing to move if things escalated. A few tense seconds passed, and I swear you couldn't cut through the thick atmosphere even with the sharpest katana. I see her fingers twitch, and then she moved, quickly pulling the gun out of the holster. I made to dive out of the way but before the situation got worse, someone else intervened.

"Takeba, wait!"

We both turned to the voice. Standing behind the girl named Takeba was an older girl; standing with a firm posture. I saw that she had a holster similar to Takeba's, but it was around her waist, and most striking and immediately noticeable to me was that she had red hair and eyes; something that was indeed a rare sight. In the tense few seconds that her appearance brought, the lights suddenly turned back on. My MP3 player turned itself back on as well, continuing to play the song that I was listening to at the station, from the spot that I stopped it at.

'_sakebe  
namida ni nure ta kono koe de  
yakiharatta kimi no kata idaku  
mayoikurushin de mo eran da kono sekai wa  
kimi dake ga tsuka- -'_

Letting out the breath I didn't know I was holding in, I turn off the MP3 player and brought my attention to the two women standing before me. The older of the two walked up to me.

"I didn't think you would arrive so late." She said with a curious tone.

_Is that what everyone's going to be saying to me tonight?_

"Train was late, I couldn't help it." I explained for the third time tonight, with a very noticeable irritable tone of voice. I wasn't happy about it but what could I have done?

"My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm." She introduced herself. I tilted my head in thought.

_Kirijo? I know I've heard that name before._

The other girl, who has stayed out of the conversation thus far, decided to speak up and ask Mitsuru something.

"…Who's he?" She asked. I looked at her and took in her appearance now that the lights were back on; she had short light brown hair and brown eyes, wore a pink sweater jacket, a black miniskirt, a red ribbon and a heart shaped choker around her neck. She is a very pretty girl, but pointing a gun at someone doesn't usually leave a good first impression. I was perfectly okay with it though, I knew she probably had her reasons for doing so.

"This is Ross McHardy, one of the transfer students. He, along with the other two, will be staying here for the duration of the year." Mitsuru explained to her. I noticed that, besides the red hair and eyes, Mitsuru was wearing similar clothes as the other girl, with some minor differences. She had a white blouse, the red ribbon was a little bigger and she was wearing black knee-high boots. Mitsuru turned her head to look at me now.

"This is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you." She introduced her. Yukari looked up at me, what happened earlier clearly making her nervous to be around me.

"…Hey." Yukari said. I thought I would try to calm her down, she was jumpy and being antagonistic wouldn't help things at all. Not that I would be like that in the first place, I'm too kind.

"Nice to meet you." I greeted with a smile. She was not expecting that reaction out of me, judging by her look of shock that passed over her features.

"Uh, y-yeah." She seemed to have calmed down after a few seconds and returned the smile, "Nice to meet you too."

"It's getting late, so you should get some rest. I'm sure you'll want to see your friends before you retire to your room though." Mitsuru said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. I didn't say anything, instead opting to nod my head. Yukari then motioned for me to follow her.

"I'll show you where they are. Follow me."

I followed her up the stairs to the second floor and there they were, sitting around a table were the two people lucky enough to come along to Japan with me. Becky Ingils was more of a party lover than a work lover; likes to play jokes at the best possible moments and goofs off most of the time, but when she's passionate about something, she will do her best at it, protect it, whatever the situation may be. Sophie Mathers, however, is the calm, rational thinker of the group. She prefers to think things out logically instead of reacting on instinct, she's the one who keeps us out of trouble most of the time. Myself, I'm sort of in the middle, I do think things out before I do them, but I do enjoy messing around during my down time. In short, we balance each other perfectly.

"Finally! Took you forever to get here!" Becky shouted as soon as she saw me.

"We thought you got into a fight or something." Sophie said after that.

"Who, me? Nah." I said before sitting down on one of the seats. All of a sudden, I feel an extraordinary amount of fatigue course through my body; so much so that I could feel my eyes droop down, threatening to lead me to the land of dreams. Sophie and Becky definitely noticed this.

"Are you alright?" Sophie asked me, I tried to dispel their concern, but I found I didn't even have the strength to give a short wave.

"…Yeah, I'm just…Really tired." As if to prove my point, I involuntarily let out a long yawn.

"We shouldn't keep you then. Get some sleep." Becky said smiling, "We've got a long year ahead of us."

I nodded, and stood up from the table, trying my damnedest not to fall over, and looked at Yukari who pointed down the hallway.

"Your room is this way, follow me."

I follow her once again down the hall, to the very last door on my right. Once we stopped in front of the door, Yukari turned to face me, smiling a very pretty smile.

"Well, this is it. Pretty easy to remember, huh? Since it's right at the end of the hall. Oh, yeah, make sure you don't lose your key or you'll never hear the end of it." She warned me. I nodded in appreciation for the advice.

"I'll keep that in mind." I replied.

"So, any questions before you go?" She asked. I gave this some thought, there were plenty of questions I could ask, but some of them I doubted she could answer. Eventually, I thought of something I think she might be able to tell me about.

"Yeah, actually. What was that contract for, exactly? A kid told me I needed to sign it."

"Huh…? What contract?" She asked me in return, looking extremely confused. It didn't look like she knew what I was talking about. She looked around worried before speaking again.

"Um, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go on ahead."

"On your way here from the station, was everything okay?"

I wondered what she could mean by that. The only real strange thing that happened was that weird green night stuff. It was probably because I was tired and I was seeing things, nothing to worry about at all.

"Yeah, I guess." I reply, rubbing the back of my neck.

"I see… Well, it looks like you're alright. I better get going." She announced and started to walk in the opposite direction. I watched her as she stopped and turned back to look at me.

"Um, I'm sure you still have other questions, but let's save them for later, okay? Good night."

"Good night." I said cheerfully as she walked back down the hallway, leaving me alone in front of the door to my room. Smiling softly, I opened the door into a dark room. Feeling around for the light switch, I turned on the lights and took a look around my new living space. It was a small room: a bed tucked away at the back, a TV in front of it, a desk with a few drawers, a sink to my left and beside it, on the floor, was a mini-fridge. I noticed some shelves as well, nailed onto the wall to my right. I saw that all the stuff I packed managed to get here.

_Cool, I'll start getting this stuff unpacked right away! …On second thought, I'll do it tomorrow._

I placed my bag next to the boxes and fell onto the bed on my back. I stared up at the ceiling and felt my eyes begin to close almost immediately.

_I'm here for a whole year, huh?_ I thought with a smile as I drifted asleep.

* * *

~**~  
Date: Tuesday 7th April 2012  
Time: Early Morning  
Days until Full Moon: 2  
~**~

Despite the fact that I got to sleep at a ridiculous time, I feel refreshed and energetic. I looked myself over in the mirror, I didn't really like school uniforms but I think I could make an exception for Gekkoukan's uniform. It looked… snazzy, if that's even a word. I adjusted my hair so it's in its usual style. A consequence of having medium-to-long hair is waking up in the morning and finding it's a goddamn mess. I messed with it until it was covering the majority of my forehead but not covering my eyes completely. A sudden knock at the door drew my attention to it.

"It's Yukari. Are you awake?" I hear Yukari's voice ask, muffled by the door.

"Yeah, be there in a sec." I said, messing up my hair a little more until I was satisfied with the puffiness of it and walked over to the door to open it. In walked Yukari who had a noticeable spring in her step.

"Good morning." She greeted me cheerfully, "Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, I feel great!" I replied, jumping up and down a little to prove this. This only served to make her smile a little more.

"Mitsuru-senpei asked me to take you to school. It's getting late so… Are you ready to go?"

I grabbed my bag off the floor and motioned for her to lead the way. I followed her out the dorm and to the train station. We made light conversation about the school and some facts about Tatsumi Port Island: a man-made island, housing several points-of-interest including Paulownia Mall and Gekkoukan High. We eventually reached the school after trekking up a loooong staircase.

_Why does it have to be stairs!? I hate these things!_

Luckily for me, it was a short walk to the school after that. I hear the sound of a bike bell go off as a female student passed us, greeting Yukari with a simple _"morning"_. We stopped in front of the main gate as we gazed upon the establishment of education that I will be attending for the next year. I marvelled at the size of the place, wondering what lay within. Noticing my stumped expression, Yukari giggled.

"We're here. Welcome to Gekkoukan High School. Hope you like it." She said to me smiling. I followed her through the front entrance and stopped next to some shoe lockers; a custom for Japanese schools if I remember my facts correctly. It's been a while since I've been to this country.

"You're okay from here, right? You should go see your homeroom teacher first. The Faculty Office is right there to the left." She pointed out the corridor to the left-hand side of the hall, "And that concludes the tour. Any questions before I go?"

I didn't know why I ask this, but it was the first thing that immediately came to my mind.

"Which class are you in?" I asked.

"Me? I don't know, I haven't looked at the classroom assignments yet." Yukari suddenly looked around before leaning a little closer and dropping her voice to a whisper, "Hey… About last night… Don't tell anyone what you saw, okay?"

I was surprised she brought that up, I didn't know what was going on but I nodded regardless. She looked relieved to know that I'll keep quiet.

"See you later!" She said before walking off; I gave her a short wave and followed her directions to the Faculty Office. Standing outside the door, I feel a bit nervous but I forced it down and knocked twice on the door before entering. The office was a mess; piles of paper strewn across the various desks, I assumed it was important school stuff, so I resisted the urge to mess around with them. Eventually, I managed to catch the attention of one of the female teachers who walked up to me.

"Oh, are you one of the new students?" She asked me, she quickly skimmed through the folder in her hand which I assumed held the information on Becky, Sophie and myself, "Ross McHardy… 11th Grade, correct? Wow, you've travelled a long way to get here… Let's see… In 1999… That was what, thirteen years ago? Your parents…" She gasped when she reached that part in my info. I winced, knowing that this would be brought up eventually. I was involved in an accident… And I was the only person out of the two people involved to survive. The teacher looked visibly uncomfortable bringing up that painful part of my history.

"I'm sorry." She apologised, "I've been so busy; I didn't have time to read this beforehand. I'm Miss Toriumi. I teach Composition. Welcome to our school."

Despite my assorted past with this city, I took Sophie's advice to heart and didn't let it get to me. I gave Miss Toriumi a small smile.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Have you seen the classroom assignments?" Miss Toriumi asked me. My smile dropped a little, completely forgetting that they have those here.

_How could I, of all people, forget that?_

"You're in 2-F, that's my class. But first, we need to go to the auditorium. The Welcoming Ceremony will be starting soon. Follow me."

_Assemblies… Meh._

I shrugged my shoulders when the teacher was out of sight and followed her to the auditorium. The entire place was packed full of students, listening to this old fart of a principal deliver a droning speech. I didn't really pay attention to him, like I do all assemblies. I just sat there, pretending to listen until someone from the seat behind me tried to get my attention.

"Psst… Hey."

I turn my head slightly to look at him properly.

"You came to school with Yukari this morning, right?" He asked, "I saw you two walking together. Hey, I have a question. Do you know if she has a boyfriend?"

_Strange, why do I feel like punching you in the face?_

"How should I know?" I asked back giving him a confused look.

"I see. I thought you might know, but I guess not… So, how well do you know her?" I was about to answer but someone was a bit too loud and managed to grab the attention of a nearby teacher.

"I hear talking. I believe it's someone from Miss Toriumi's class…"

Miss Toriumi glared at us from where she stood.

"Shh! Be quiet! You're going to get me in trouble!"

I turn around to face the stage again and didn't dare look anywhere else.

_Pretty amazing they could hear us over all this noise._

Indeed, many students were beginning to chat amongst themselves. I let myself sink into the seat, wondering every five seconds when this snooze fest would end.

* * *

~**~  
Time: After School  
~**~

_Freedom at last! As soon as I get to the dorm, I'll get everything unpacked, and once I get everything unpacked, I'll… Hmm, I don't really have a plan… Oh well, cross that bridge when I get to it._

I stood up from my desk and stretched my arms, happy that the first day of school went off without any problems. I grabbed my bag and, out of habit, checked to see if the item I packed was still there.

_Good, it's still there. There would be hell to pay if I forgot to pack that._

I slung the bag over my shoulder and started walking to the door. Someone stood in my way however. I noticed that it was the same guy who sits in the desk to my right during class. He had a baseball cap, had dark hair, greyish eyes and sported a goatee. I couldn't help but notice the necklace he had on, it was very silver and shiny.

"Sup, dude? How's it going?" He asked.

"Good, I guess." I answered smiling, "…Who are you exactly?"

"Me? I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya." Junpei began to explain, "I transferred here when I was in eighth grade. I know how tough it is bein' the new kid. So I wanted to say _"hey"_. See what a nice guy I am!"

I was going to reply but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Yukari walk into the room. I was surprised to find out she was in the same class as me. Well, at least I won't get lost around here with her nearby, 'cause this place is huge!

"Hey, it's Yuka-tan!" Junpei said once he saw her, "I didn't think we would be in the same class again."

Yukari looked so annoyed at Junpei, and her tone of voice perfectly showed that irritation.

"At it again, huh? I swear, you'll talk to anyone if they'll listen. Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?"

Junpei looked shocked at the very idea that he was being a nuisance.

"What?! But I was just being friendly."

I felt like I should step in a defend the guy, I mean, it was kind to talk to the new kid, especially if you knew what it was like yourself, like I did.

"He was just being nice, Yukari-san. Especially since I'm the new kid who doesn't know where to go and have I mentioned that this place is friggin' HUGE?"

Yukari and Junpei both chuckled at my amazement.

"If you say so." Yukari said, smiling at me, "Anyway, looks like we're in the same homeroom…"

"It must be fate." I joked, but it seemed like the joke flew completely over her head however.

"Fate? Yeah, right." She still let out a small laugh nonetheless, "Still, I'm a little surprised."

"Um, hello? Are you forgetting that I'm in this class too?" Junpei cut in, annoyed that he was being ignored. His annoyed face quickly evolved into a huge grin however, "By the way, I heard that you two came to school together this morning. What's up with that? C'mon, gimme the dirt!"

_What's so strange about that?_ I had to wonder. Is it really that strange to see two students walking to school together? Judging by the look of shock on Yukari's face, she didn't take this comment well.

"Wh-What are you talking about?! We live in the same dorm. There's nothing going on, okay?!" Yukari denied quicker than an Easter bunny hiding its chocolates.

_Speaking of which, I'll need to search the boxes for that thing as well._

"Why are people even talking about it? Now you have me worried…" She turned away from Junpei and looked up at me; I could see the worried expression clear as day.

"Hey… You didn't say anything to anyone about… You know what, did you?" She asked. Though I was surprised to see her bring that up again right next to someone outside the dorm, I answered concisely.

"Nope, haven't told a soul."

"Okay, good." She said, looking a little relieved, but then the nervous expression came back in full force, "Seriously… Don't say anything about last night, alright?"

_Hmm…? Why does Junpei's face look weird? Did he swallow a fly or something?_

Following my line of sight, Yukari also noticed the strange look on Junpei's face.

"Wh-What?" She asked, almost as if afraid to find out the answer.

"L-Last night…?" And then Yukari freaked out a little.

"W-Wait a minute, don't get the wrong idea! Listen! I just met him yesterday and there is nothing between us!" She shouted at Junpei. And I still didn't get what was going on, "Geez… I gotta go. I've got something to take care of for the archery team. But you better not start any rumours!"

_Why did she point at Junpei and ME when she said that?_

Yukari walked back through the open door, leaving me alone with Junpei. He looked annoyed at something.

"Ah, who cares?" He said, "No-one takes rumours seriously anyway. She's so paranoid…" Junpei's huge grin returned as he turned to look at me.

"But, hey! It's your first day here and people are already talking about you! Believe it or not, she's actually pretty popular. You da man! Heheh, this is going to be a fun year. I can feel it."

* * *

~**~  
Time: Evening  
~**~

It was precisely 6:25 PM when I entered the front door to the dorm. I got dragged across town by Junpei, saying that I needed to _"see the sights and take in the culture"_; mostly it was just spots with an abnormally huge amount of women around… I didn't really get it. Mitsuru greeted me from her seat, where she was reading a book that I didn't know the name of.

"Welcome back." She said, "How was your first day of school?"

"It went well." I replied cheerfully, before letting out a puff of air, feigning annoyance, "Why did the school have to be so huge though?"

Mitsuru smiled a little before continuing.

"Oh yes, before I forget, no-one is allowed to leave the dorms at night." She explained. That was perfectly fine by me; I needed to unpack my stuff anyway. I saw Yukari sitting at the dining table and I thought I would go say hi to her. She looked up at me as I approached.

"Hey, Ross-san. What's up?"

"Just wanted to see what you were up to."

"I'm just killing time here… You look tired." She pointed out. She was right about that, I did feel tired after my little mis-adventure with Junpei, but I still had stuff to do.

"Yeah, I'm just going to unpack my stuff and then I'll probably turn in." I explained to her. I started to walk towards the stairs when she called out to me.

"Do you need any help?"

"No." I instantly answer her question, "It wouldn't be right to make you help me with my stuff. It's no big deal." I walked up the stairs and to my room. I looked at the several boxes I have stacked against the wall and sighed.

_Well, might as well get started._

* * *

_~10 minutes later~_

_Heheh. Oh, fortune has smiled on me today._

I stepped out of my room and walked down the hallway. I spotted Becky and Sophie who were lounging near the vending machines and called out to them.

"Hey! Guess what I just found?!"

They turn to look at me, and in pitch perfect unison, groaned when they saw what I was wearing.

"You actually packed that thing?" Sophie asked, sounding exasperated.

"That. Fucking. Hood." Becky said slowly, "I am going to cut off those bunny ears if it's the last thing I do!"

"HA! Good luck; this is never leaving my sight when it's our days off!"

I was wearing a blue and white stripped turtleneck shirt with sleeves underneath a white hooded jacket. The hood itself had long bunny like ears protruding from it. I thought it looked snazzy, but they claimed that the ears made me look too silly. Bah, they don't know innovative fashion when they see it. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and looked in that direction.

"Hey, what's with all the commotion- -?" Yukari immediately burst into giggles upon seeing the hood of my jacket, which I put up over my head to make the ears more pronounced. I smiled at her laughing fit.

"You like it? It makes me look like a bunny." I asked, grabbing the ears and making them flip flop around.

"Heheh, it looks good on you." Yukari said in between giggles. I looked back at Becky and Sophie with a triumphant smirk.

"You see? Some people here know good fashion."

We all sat down and discussed, in between veiled threats from Becky to cut off my awesome bunny ears, random topics. We talked about the trip here, and our thoughts on the school. Eventually, the topic of my meeting with Junpei came up.

"So, how well do you know Jumpy-san?" I asked Yukari, who did a double take.

"_Jumpy? _You mean Junpei?"

"Yeah, that's what I said, Jumpy."

"…Well, we met when he transferred here. He's been a constant pain in the ass since then."

"He didn't seem like that bad of a guy." I said, "He showed me some of the more popular sights of the city today. Including this place called Shiru- -"

It was here that I felt Yukari's hand clamp itself over my mouth to prevent me from finishing that sentence.

"Okay! That's enough about stupid Junpei and his escapades!" She said quickly, effectively ending the conversation there. She removed her hand, leaving me just staring at her, wondering what was so bad about that place that she didn't want me speaking about it. I decided to bring up another topic instead.

"So, how were your first days?" I asked Becky and Sophie. They looked tired, with good reason.

"We are so screwed!" Becky complained loudly.

"So, not good?" I asked the obvious question. They nodded in affirmation. It wasn't surprising to be honest, we were foreigners in a strange land and only I was, somewhat, familiar with their customs; having often visited Japan when I was younger.

"Why could we haven't have gotten your teacher? We'll never get good grades with HIM as our teacher!"

"That's probably true." I said with a knowing smile. I had him for Classic Literature, and while I do enjoy stories and writing… He seems to have a few loose screws in him.

"…You're pretty flippant, aren't you? You son of a bitch!" She tried to go for the bunny ears but I moved them out of the way, having a huge grin on our faces now. I knew she didn't mean it, we always did stuff like that, whether it's scaring the living crap out of each other or just poking fun.

"Hah! Gotta try harder than that!" I said before looking off to the side, "You can't expect to beat me like that."

"Wait, what did you just say?" Sophie asked me, as almost in shock. I looked at the others who looked like a bus hit someone and they saw it with their own eyes.

"I said _"You can't expect to beat me like that"_… Why? Did I say something else?" I asked, wondering what was wrong with everyone. Things were getting stranger and stranger by the minute.

"You said… Ah, forget it. We probably didn't hear it properly." Something told me that they heard perfectly, going by their expressions but are hesitant to bring it up. I shrugged my shoulders and let out a large yawn.

"Whatever, I've gotta finish unpacking everything and then I'll be turning in for the night. Good night." I call out to them as I walked back to my room and they responded in kind. I entered my room and saw several boxes still needing to be opened up. I rubbed the back of my neck and then started with the biggest box.

_Oh boy… This is gonna be a pain…_

* * *

~**~  
Date: Wednesday 8th April 2012  
Time: Evening  
Days until Full Moon: 1  
~**~

I got back to the dorm after school at the same time I did yesterday. Junpei showed me around Port Island Station, showcasing the various shops I missed while walking to the dorm from the station when I got here.

_That Hagukure place looks interesting. Might have to go there sometime._

I walked through the door and saw an unfamiliar man talking to Yukari at the couches. Yukari must have heard the door open because she looked at me as soon as I entered the front hall.

"Oh, he's back." They both got up to greet me.

"So, this is one of our new guests." He commented. This mysterious man wore a tan suit with a brown turtleneck shirt underneath. He wore glasses and was middle aged judging from his appearance. Though he certainly didn't look it, what with the long brown hair and eyes.

"Good evening." He greeted me smiling, "My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school. "_Ikutsuki"_… Hard to say, isn't it? That's why I don't like introducing myself. Even I get tongue tied sometimes." He motioned to the couches where we all sat down.

"Now, is there any questions you would like to ask?"

I thought about it and there was really only one thing on my mind at that point.

"Yeah… Where can a man get some Strawberry Sundae around here?"

I was being dead serious. Mr Ikutsuki seems to think that I was just messing around however.

"Oh ho! Something tells me things will be lively with you and your friends around." He chuckled and pushed his glasses up, "Is there anything else?"

_But… My Sundae…_

"…No, I'm good." I said after a while, actually sounding a little disappointed by the lack of dessert.

"Then, I hope you have a successful school year. Now if you'll excuse me." He got off the chair and started to walk off before stopping next to me, "You must be tired from all the excitement. You should go to bed early. As they say, _"The early bird catches the bookworm!"_… Please forgive the bad pun." He walked to the staircase and went up it, chuckling all the way. The front hall was silent, only me and Yukari were there but it was too quiet. I had to resist the temptation to giggle at the unbearably bad pun, or make one of my own. It became much easier to bite my tongue after seeing Yukari's annoyed expression.

"…You'll get used to his lame jokes."

The rest of the night was spent with the others, discussing some rumour I heard while walking to school. Apparently, there's this new disease of some sort floating around: it turns people into a lifeless shell, mumbling to themselves while in a comatose-like state. I didn't manage to catch the name, but the very concept alone was unnerving if the reactions of my friends were any indication. I tried to cheer them up, saying that we don't even know if it's true or not. It somewhat worked, but I couldn't help feeling a sense of unease and tension in the air. It felt like that something bad was going to happen soon, but I chalked it up to me being superstitious. I already went through hell once, what could be worse than… Have to stay positive. I'm supposed to be enjoying my stay here and something tells me that I'll be having a lot of fun while we're here. I went back to my room soon after and collapsed onto the bed; everything was unpacked and in their proper place (though I think it'll become messy in a month anyway) and I slowly drifted asleep.

* * *

~**~  
Time: Unknown  
~**~

I heard something, a voice calling out to me. Telling me to wake up.

_Don't tell me I'm late again… When did my room get re-decorated…?_

Yes, what I saw when I awoke was not the ceiling of my room, but rather the floor: the blue floor. And I apparently slept in my chair as well.

_I could have sworn I slept in my bed._

Before I could process what was going on, a distinct voice greeted me.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear young man."

I snapped my head upwards, seeing now that I am not sleeping in my room. I have been taken to this strange room. It looked like a giant elevator continually moving upwards with no end in sight. The strange old man that sat across the room behind a table spoke like he was expecting me. The black suit with a white handkerchief in its breast pocket gave him a very dignified appearance. Though his bulging bloodshot eyes made me a little nervous, what my eyes were drawn to was the absolutely enormous nose he had; it is probably the longest nose I have ever seen, and I probably will never bear witness to such a long nose ever again.

_There's long and then there's…THAT!_

Beside him stood a woman. She looked very pretty but her clothes… I cannot describe them. It looked really fancy and the majority of it was blue. Maybe it was an elevator attendant's outfit, I honestly do not know. That wasn't what really caught my attention though, no, what REALLY caught my attention was the white hair and golden eyes she had. It looked otherworldly and only served to make me question just what the hell is this place. As if though he read my thoughts, the old man introduced himself.

"My name is Igor, I am delighted to make your acquaintance." He then pointed to the woman next to him, "This is Elizabeth. She's a resident here, like myself."

"Pleased to meet you." Elizabeth said pleasantly.

"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It's been years since we've had a guest." Igor waved his hand and something appeared on the table. I recognised it as the contract I signed when I first got to the dorm.

"Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place. Henceforth, you shall be welcomed here in the Velvet Room. You are destined to hone your unique ability, and you will require my help to do so. I only ask one thing in return… That you abide by the contract, and assume responsibility for the choices you make."

_Sounds simple enough... I mean, I did sign the contract. Don't want to break a promise now, do I?_

"You got it." I said cheerfully, despite the weirdness of this situation, "You mind if I ask something? Is this just a dream? It seems just too weird." Now I expected some outlandish answer, like _"We kidnapped you in your sleep"_, but the answer that Igor gave me was honestly unexpected.

"Precisely, you are fast asleep in the real world as we speak. This visit of yours is merely a dream. However, you will come here of your own accord, sooner or later." He waved his hand again, performing another one of his magic tricks, "Hold onto this."

I felt something materialized in my hand and looked down at it. It was a decent sized key with a mask design. I assumed it was the key to the room; he did say I was welcomed to visit it anytime, pretty much. Before I could ask him anything else, I felt my eyes start to droop, and sleep began to overtake me once again.

"'Til we meet again." Was all I heard from Igor before I fell unconscious.

* * *

~**~  
Date: Thursday 9th April 2012  
Time: Evening  
Days until Full Moon: 0  
~**~

"Welcome back." I hear Mitsuru greet me when I walked through the door, she was still reading the same book she was a few days ago, "It's a full moon tonight. I think reading by the moonlight would be a pleasant experience."

I looked distant, not really paying attention to what was being said. I was reflecting on some old memories I had of just watching the moon through my bedroom window. I smiled, remembering what I used to do when I saw the full moon.

"Are you alright?" Mitsuru's voice brought me out of my stupor and back to the world of the living.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just remembering what I used to do as a kid around this time." I explained, that only seemed to make Mitsuru more curious.

"Oh… And what did you do when the full moon is out?"

To tell the truth, it was a little embarrassing for me. I didn't know how to explain it so instead I just stuttered, fumbling for an answer.

"W-Well, I, um…"

Thankfully, Mitsuru sensed my discomfort and smiled.

"Don't worry, you don't have to explain it if you don't want to… You look tired."

I was still getting used to my new routine, and being woken up in the middle of the night by some freaky dream didn't do me any favours in the sleep department.

"Yeah… I think I'll turn in early tonight." I yawned and started to walk up the stairs, waving to Mitsuru along the way. I thought about that room I went to: the Velvet Room, during the day and was no closer to any possible answers. He mentioned my _"unique ability"_ and spoke of the contract. I wondered what I could do that could be considered _"unique"_ but found nothing. I wasn't anything special; just a fun-loving guy who, by all accounts, is just an ordinary high school student. I couldn't think when I'm tired though, so I decided to go straight to my room and get some sleep… And hope Long Nose-san doesn't wake me up again.

* * *

~**~  
Time: Unknown  
~**~

"Ahhhh!"

I ended up landing face first on the ground after a sudden shift caused me to tumble off the bed.

_OW! What the hell was that?! An earthquake?! Oh crap! I need to see if the others are okay!_

As I went to do just that, an urgent knock on the door stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Wake up!" I hear Yukari shout. Of course, an earthquake that strong would have woken anyone up, "Sorry, we're coming in!"

_We?_

The door swung open and in walked Becky, Sophie and Yukari, looking panicked.

"I don't have time to explain! We need to get out of here now!" She said. I was confused, but I didn't really question her. There wasn't any time. She gave me a short sword, much to my shock, telling me to take it _"just in case"_. In case of what? Was something attacking us? A robber? Just what in the world was going on here? I didn't have any time to think as we moved down the stairs. I was trying to process what was going on as we stood by the fire escape, with Yukari saying that we should be safe for the moment. Safe from what? What is going on? She was talking to someone on the other side of some sort of headset. I couldn't really make out the voice on the other end but whatever the conversation was about made Yukari panic.

"What!?"

A sudden bang on the fire escape made us jump. A further two bangs made us step back in fear. Yukari led us up the stairs several floors. I wondered again during our run what was happening. And then I noticed that our environment was tinted green… Just like the night I came to the dorm. Things were starting to click now; it had something to do with this green night. It wasn't safe during this time. I didn't have the time to explain things to them now; besides, I think they already know this for a fact before I managed to figure it out. Especially Yukari. We eventually made it to the roof and locked the door behind us. My mind was racing; I wasn't focusing on anything Yukari said. I tried to think things through but I couldn't, my thought processes were beginning to shut down from the fear. Before I knew it, something monstrous appeared, climbing up the side of the dorm. I stepped back, not believing what I was seeing. It was simply not possible…!

"Those monsters… We call them Shadows!" Yukari said before pulling the same gun from the night I first arrived at the dorm, only this time, she pointed it to her own head. I was still reeling from the monster, but seeing this made completely freeze up. Every fibre of my being was telling me to stop her, to protect her. But I couldn't move. I was too scared. The monster managed to close the gap quickly and swiped at us with its weapons. Knocking nearly everyone to the ground. I heard the ka-chunk of the metal object land near my feet. I stared at the creature, the black, oozing creature that slowly made its way towards me. I didn't know what to do. I was afraid of what was going to happen.

_This thing is going to kill me… And then it'll kill everyone else… Am I about to lose everything here again!? People are going to die in front of me again!? And I'm powerless to stop it! … No…_

"NOOOOO!"

What happened after that changed my life forever. A sudden rush of power coursed through my body. I noticed a vortex like ring appeared in front of me, and something materialising within it. Eventually, the ring dissipated, revealing what was in it. It looked like a giant mecha from one of my anime, but it was real and floating in front of me. I heard a voice in my head spoke as it faced our enemy.

"_Thou art I… And I am thou… I am Jehuty, ready for combat operation."_

Knowing now that this mecha is under my command, I gave a simple order.

"Get that thing!" I shouted, pointing at the creature. It moved faster than anything I see, trying to strike the monster but not being able to get close due to the monster throwing its blades at it. I ran to the others who were staring at the mecha called Jehuty, mouths agape.

"Are you okay!?" I asked, the volume of my voice higher than usual. They didn't say a word, only nodding their heads. Yukari looked shocked to see what was happening, but not more so than the others who lifted a finger to point at the on-going battle.

Jehuty tried once again to get close but that monster suddenly used a fire attack on it, sending Jehuty flying back.

_Crap! Move damnit!_

I was trying to recover from the sudden pain engulfing my body. I collapsed onto my knees, with everyone clamouring around me to see if I was okay. I didn't know what caused it, but I felt it, and it was painful. I smiled when I heard the satisfying sound of several slashes and the monster's roars of pain. Jehuty hovered back a few feet and began to build up energy. I felt it as well, flowing through my body and gave me the energy to stand properly. It was like the mecha and I were sharing our power, it becoming one powerful attack that destroyed the Shadow, as Yukari called it. It faded into nothingness, and silence reigned over the rooftop.

_I… did it. I protected everyone… No one will die here today._

I felt… tired. I staggered a few steps forward before collapsing to my knees. Before I fell face first into the ground, I uttered a single word. I didn't understand why I said it, I wasn't even capable of thinking at that moment, but it was like I knew it all my life.

"Per…so…na…"

* * *

When I awoke, it was within the confines of the Velvet Room again. Igor and Elizabeth were in the same place as the last time I was here. And it looked like they were expecting me.

"It's so nice to see you again. You became unconscious after awakening to your _"power"_… It's nothing to worry about though. So, just relax. By the way… I see that it was Jehuty who heeded your calling. That power is called a Persona… It is a manifestation of your psyche."

"… My psyche?" I asked, not exactly sure of what he was talking about.

"It may take some time to fully comprehend. A Persona is a facet of your personality that surfaces as you react to external stimuli. You can think of it as a mask that protects you as you brave many hardships. That being said, your power is still weak…"

"Hey! What do you mean weak!? Cause' I think I just kicked that monster's ass into the next century!" I protested. Igor looked amused at my sudden outburst.

"When you use your Persona ability, you must channel your inner strength. The ability evolves as you develop your Social Links- -your emotional ties with others. The stronger your Social Links, the more powerful your Persona ability."

"Oh, I get it! The closer I am to a person, the more power my Persona has?"

"Precisely, I'm glad that you are quick to understand this. Now, then… Time marches on in your world. I shouldn't keep you here any longer. Next time we meet, you will come here of your own accord. Until then… Farewell."

I slowly felt my consciousness slip away as the Velvet Room disappeared.

* * *

Author's Note: 21 pages, not bad for a Prologue. This remake is going to more be character driven than the previous version. Not suggesting that version wasn't character driven or anything, it's just that this one will be even more character driven; providing more insight on the main character through his narration and personality, and more insight to the other characters via their Social Link events, just like in P3 and 4. Alright, I believe I've kept you long enough. Was it better than the old version? What can I do to improve even more? Managed to catch a mistake I didn't see? Leave your thoughts via that nice review box at the bottom or, if you prefer, send a PM. See you in the next chapter!


	2. Week 1

Author's Note: Well, here's one change that people will definitely catch onto. Instead of doing the chapters for each day, I'm going to be writing one chapter for one week. This, of course, means that the chapters will be a lot longer and as a consequence, I won't be able to do some of what I've been doing before. So no more switching perspectives (I was kinda bending the rules of storytelling with that anyway. Who knows, maybe I'll do it on EXTREMELY rare cases.) And the sections in Tartarus will be very small scale, if even there at all. This story really isn't about the action, it's about the characters, though there will be action, it'll be limited to set pieces throughout the plot. Going in with this mindset, I'm not really happy with this chapter. It's really the _"exposition"_ chapter. Something I would have skipped, but ultimately, it was something I felt was necessary to include. I tried to salvage it, and the results of that I thought turned out OK. That's really up to YOUR discretion however as to how well I did with this. So, leave me your thoughts and I hope you enjoy.

* * *

~**~  
Date: Friday 17th April 2012  
Time: After School  
Days until Full Moon: 22  
~**~

… _Man, I feel like crap. What happened…? Oh, that's right. I kicked some ass and then fell asleep. And took a trip to that Velvet Room again._

I slowly opened my eyes and saw a white, unfamiliar ceiling.

_Well, I can safely say this isn't my room._

"You're awake!" I hear a familiar voice. I searched around until I saw Yukari sitting beside me, "Um, how do you feel?"

"Like I've been hit in the head repeatedly by coconuts. Why are you here, Yukari?" I asked curiously, I really wasn't sure why she was here. She didn't know me that well, hell; I only met her a few days ago.

"Thank goodness. You've finally came to." She sighed in relief, "How much sleep do you need!? It's been a whole week!"

_I've slept for a week!? Certainly more sleep than I need, that's for sure!_

"I was so worried about you." Yukari said with complete sincerity. They say eyes are the gateway to one's emotions, and I can read them mostly well. Hers was a mixture of weariness and relief. How long has she been coming to visit me? I noticed her fidget in her seat a little.

"You saved my life, you know… So I couldn't just leave you here. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong with you. He said you were just exhausted… But you kept sleeping and sleeping. You know how worried I was?"

She looked down at the floor, looking like she felt guilty about something.

"Um… I'm sorry I couldn't do anything… Even though I was supposed to protect all of you, I… But, your power… It was amazing."

I remembered some things about the battle on the roof. How I summoned something and killed that monster.

"…What did I do?" I asked, hoping to get some answers.

"The power you used… We call it _"Persona"_. And those creatures you defeated are Shadows- -our enemy. We'll explain everything later. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."

_Persona…? Yeah, I think I recognise the name. And those things are called Shadows…_

"I, uh… I wanted to tell you that… I'm sorta like you."

_Like me?_

"What do you mean?" I asked, curiosity striking once again. Yukari took a deep breath before explaining.

"My dad died in an accident when I was little… And my mom and I aren't exactly on good terms…" She started, "You're all alone too, right?" I raised my eyebrows, wondering how she knew about that.

"To be honest, I already know about your past… But it didn't seem fair, so I wanted you to know about mine… It was back in '99… There was a big explosion in the area. Supposedly, my dad died in the blast, but nobody really knows what happened… He was working in a lab run by the Kirijo Group. So, I'm hoping that if I stick around long enough, I'll find out something. That's why I'm going to Gekkoukan High, and why I was there when this happened to you… Of course, I panicked and wasn't much help… It was my first time fighting them, too. I'm sorry… You wouldn't have to go through this if I wasn't such a coward…"

_That's a lot to go through in one lifetime… I guess we are alike after all._

"…I was scared too." I offered, hoping to reassure her. I was really afraid back on that roof, but I had to protect everyone there. And it seems like I managed to do just that. Yukari looked shocked to hear this; whatever I did must have really made an impression on her.

"Really…? But still…" She shook her head before smiling at me, "And here I am telling you all this the minute you wake up. While I was waiting, I thought to myself _"I've been hiding so many things from him… As soon as he wakes up, I'll tell him the truth."_ So, thanks for listening. I wanted to share that story with someone for a long time…" She stood up from her seat, "Alright, I'm gonna get going. I'll let the others know you woke up. Take it easy, okay? Be a good patient! And don't hesitate to call the nurse. I'm sure she'll take good care of you."

She started to walk to the door, but something made me call out to her.

"Hey, Yukari!" She turned around surprised, "Maybe, uh… Maybe you could… Stay and keep me company? We never had much of a chance to talk much, did we?" I said nervously before quickly adding on, "Besides, I don't like hospitals that much… I would rather not be alone."

That wasn't the complete truth. For some reason, I just wanted her nearby. I didn't really understand this. Was it because she was right and we were alike? Maybe it was because I wanted to get to know her better? I didn't know. Yukari looked at me for a few seconds before smiling.

"Sure." She started to walk back to her seat. I noticed that the room I was in was surprisingly empty; only Yukari and myself were in it.

"Where are the others?" And then I remembered something I should have at the start.

_Oh crap!_

"Are they okay!? What happened to them!?"

_Why didn't I think of this sooner!?_

"They're fine. They were a little shook up, but they're safe. They were here visiting a while ago, but I sent them back to the dorm, the Chairman wanted to speak with them." I let out the breath I was holding in, and sunk into the pillow, "You really do care about them, don't you?"

"…My friends were all I had left after… Well, you knew what happened."

"I was kinda surprised that you've been here before."

"Well, my dad worked here. And me and my mom were visiting…"

Yukari and I talked about ourselves until the sunset.

* * *

~**~  
Date: Saturday 18th April 2012  
Time: Early Morning  
Days until Full Moon: 21  
~**~

_School on a Saturday. Kill me now!_

I was walking through the main gate when Yukari spotted me.

"Morin'. You seem to be doin' pretty well.

"Yeah, I'm doin' alright. My legs are a little stiff though… And why is there school on a Saturday!? I just got out of the hospital expecting a nice relaxing weekend and now this!? Ow, my leg just cracked!" I complained, not actually serious about that…mostly. Yukari seemed to catch the joking tone as she giggled.

"That's good." We walked a bit before she spoke again, "Hey, sorry to add this to your worries, but Ikutsuki-san wants to speak with you today. Come to the 4th floor of the dorm, okay? Don't forget."

Making a mental note of that, Yukari and I walked into the school building.

* * *

~**~  
Time: Evening  
~**~

I walked through a set of wooden doors into a nice looking room on the 4th floor of the dorm. A large device with several monitors lies to my left in the middle of the room. Pretty high-tech for a normal school dorm, I wondered if it was their security system or something. On the table in the middle, I saw a silver briefcase. I noticed that the Chairman, Yukari, Mitsuru and a male I haven't seen before were sitting on the chairs surrounding the table.

"Ah, there you are." Ikutsuki started, "I'm glad that you're okay. The reason I asked you here is because I needed to talk to you. Please, have a seat."

_A seat…?_

Inspiration suddenly struck and before I could stop myself, I responded.

"Sure, Mr._ Chair_man." Everyone in that room face faulted with the exception of Ikutsuki who was giggling like a schoolgirl.

"I got to write that one down! So simple, yet brilliant!"

I took a seat and waited for him to calm down. When he did, he pointed to the male sitting to my left.

"Oh, before I begin. Let me introduce you to Akihiko Sanada. He's also a resident of this dorm."

The man named Akihiko smiled and waved at me. I took in his appearance: he had short silver hair, grey eyes and had a pale complexion, as well as having a band aid over his left eye. He wore a red sweater jacket instead of the standard jacket Gekkoukan students wore, and had black leather gloves on. He was a handsome man… Hey, I'm comfortable admitting that!

"How ya doin'?" He asked. I smiled politely and nodded.

"Could be worse. Could be dead."

I hear the Chairman clear his throat before he started to speak again.

"Okay, let me start off by asking you this… Would you believe me if I said that a day consists of more than 24 hours?"

…_What?_

_"…Well, I would probably say that you've gone freakin' nuts."_

_Mitsuru let out a chuckle at my expression and reaction._

_"I'm not surprised by your reaction. _However, you've already experienced this truth firsthand. Do you remember the night you came here?"

I nodded, remembering it quite clearly. Though I initially thought it to be a figment of my very over-active imagination, I knew now that what happened was real. Somehow, knowing that I could indeed be crazy and not just think I am gave me much comfort.

"You had to have noticed the signs… The streetlights went out… Nothing was working… There were coffins everywhere… Didn't it feel like you were in a different time? That's the Dark Hour- -a time period hidden between one day and the next."

"So, let me see if I got this straight. The Dark Hour is hidden in between midnight and 12 o'one or something like that…? I don't really understand."

"I know how you feel. Who would believe such a story?" Ikutsuki said, "But the Dark Hour occurs each night, right at midnight. It'll happen tonight, and every night to come."

Akihiko, who has until now kept silent, decided to speak up.

"Normal people don't realise it, since they're all sleeping inside their coffins. But, that's not what makes the Dark Hour so interesting… You saw those creatures. We call them _"Shadows"_. They only appear during the Dark Hour, and attack anyone not in a coffin. It's our job to defeat them… Sounds exciting, huh?"

Mitsuru didn't look happy at him, and stood up, giving quite possibly the strongest glare I've seen in a while.

"Akihiko! Why are you always like that? You just got hurt the other day!" He glared back at Mitsuru and I swore that the temperature of the room rose by five degrees.

_Whoa! Is it getting hot in here? Poor Ikutsuki, being stuck in the middle of that._

The Chairman looked back and forth nervously between the two.

"Now, now. He does his work well." That seemed to calm them down as they went back to sitting down, Ikutsuki looked back at me now, "Long story short, we're the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad- -SEES for short. On paper, we're classified as a school club. But in reality, this group is dedicated to defeating the Shadows. Mitsuru is the leader, I'm the club advisor."

Mitsuru leaned forward on her seat and spoke up.

"A Shadow feeds on the mind of its prey; the victim becomes a living corpse. They're responsible for most of the incidents on the news, if not all of them."

I thought about it, and wondered why the police weren't getting involved if that were the case. I quickly forced that thought out of my head; I don't really think that the police could do anything about the Dark Hour.

"So, how do you fight them?"

"Although rare, there are those who can function during the Dark Hour." Ikutsuki began to explain to me, "Some may even awaken to a power that enables them to fight the Shadows. That's _"Persona"_- -the power you used the other night. The Shadows can only be defeated by Persona-users. Which means, it's all up to you guys."

I saw where this was going, and smiled.

"I see."

"I'm glad you're quick to understand."

It was here that Mitsuru opened the suitcase on the table, revealing some kind of gauntlet device and an armband with the word _"SEES"_ engraved on it.

"What he's trying to say is, we want you to join us. We would like you to lend us your strength."

It took me only a second to make a decision. The Shadows are killing people, I have the power to kill the Shadows, it's as simple as that.

"Of course I'll help." I said cheerfully. Everyone looked relieved at the announcement, especially Yukari.

"I was afraid you'd say no." She then smiled brightly, "Welcome aboard."

"Thank you so much. I'm really glad." Ikutsuki said with a smile, "Oh, I almost forgot. About your friends. I'm sure you noticed that they weren't here?"

"Yeah, I did." I answered, "Where are they? I thought I would have passed them on the way in."

"We're currently testing them for the potential. But, between you and me, I don't think there will be any complications. We told them about us and how we intended to recruit you, they wanted to help out as soon as we mentioned you."

I had to chuckle at that, it didn't surprise me at all.

"I figured as much, I would have done something like that had it been any of them in my place." I noticed that Akihiko had a solemn look on his face as Ikutsuki mentioned that.

_What's wrong with him?_

It wasn't my place to ask though, so I ignored it. Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass reached my ears; everything seemed to freeze around me as I saw something materialize in the air. It was a card. It hung there for a second before flipping over; revealing a portrait of a jester laughing very close to a cliff with a dog at his heels, at the bottom of the card was the number zero. A mysterious voice spoke in my head.

"Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana…"

The card disappeared, and time seemed to return to normal. I felt a rush of power course through my body. It was a warm feeling, like one gets after having a drink of hot chocolate or something like that.

_So this is what Igor was talking about. The strength of my bonds is the strength of my Persona, huh?_

"Now that we got that out of the way. We should explain the _unusual _circumstances behind your summoning." Mitsuru said cryptically. I tilted my head in confusion.

"Unusual?" I asked.

"Yes, we watched the battle on the rooftop through those monitors there, and we saw that the way you summoned your Persona wasn't through the usual method."

"Usual method?" I parroted, not exactly sure what she's going on about. There were multiple ways to summon Personas? I then thought about what happened on the roof before I fell unconscious, and distinctly remember Yukari pointing a gun at her own head, "Wait, I just remembered. You pointed a gun at your own head." I said, pointing to Yukari, "You mind telling me why?"

It wasn't Yukari who explained it, it was Mitsuru.

"The guns aren't real. We call them _"Evokers"_; they are designed to help the user summon their Persona. You, however, managed to summon your Persona without using it. Our scientists theorized that might be possible due to extreme emotional trauma… Whatever managed to invoke your Persona must have affected you greatly."

I shifted nervously in my seat, feeling everyone's eyes looking at me. I avoided them by looking at my knees.

"People were about to die… I couldn't accept that." I simply said. It looked like they understood well enough what I mean by that.

"I think it's time we explained the gauntlet you see in the case." Ikutsuki said, drawing everyone's attention to said case. It was silver, metallic and looked like it was designed to be worn on the left arm. It had a rectangular screen and looked tailor made to fit my small arm.

"Since you won't be able to summon your Persona through the conventional method, our scientists have developed this device. It works in pretty much the same fashion as the Evoker, it'll help you summon your Persona in battle. I believe they call it the _"COMP"_. They also tell me there are a few other features that should help you in battle, with the option for upgrades once they're done with them. Why don't you try it on?"

I look at the Gauntlet they call the "_COMP"_ and then lifted it out of the case. It was surprisingly light, and it seemed simple to put on. I slipped my hand through it and locked it down. Moving my fingers to make sure I can move them okay, I notice the screen had a retractable cover that automatically opened up. The screen asked me to register the COMP with my details, probably so it can't be used by anyone other than me. After doing so, it provided me with various options, including _"Summon"_, _"Status"_ and _"Auto Map"_. Not seeing any buttons, I tried touching the Status icon and it worked.

_So it's a touchscreen. Convenient but I don't like them that much… Oh well, can't complain with what works._

When it finished loading, a projection appeared from the device in front of me. I stared at it in awe, not expecting that.

_Wow… That is so cool!_

On it, I saw my Persona, the thing I summoned during the rooftop battle along with other information that I didn't pay attention to at that time.

_Jehuty… So, you're my ally in this battle, huh?_

Closing it down, I could see the others impressed faces. It was an impressive piece of technology, and they were entrusting it to me?

"Why are you giving this to me?" I asked Mitsuru.

"Because of your power." She simply said, "Since you're a member of SEES now, we want to make sure you are able to fight at your full potential. And given the circumstances, we felt this would be the best way to do just that. The COMP is yours to keep and use when necessary, we'll inform you when upgrades are available as well."

I nodded, and lifted up my arm again to look at the Gauntlet. The COMP is going to be my most valuable asset in battle. Those Shadows aren't a joke, they can be deadly. I need to use whatever advantage I can get… Or else… Bah, I can't think of that! I just have to avoid screwing up and then that won't happen.

* * *

~**~  
Time: The Dark Hour  
~**~

I lay in my bed, watching as the Dark Hour made its presence known. It came, just as Ikutsuki said it would. I was about roll over and try to get some sleep when a voice cut through the silence of my bedroom.

"Hi, how are you?"

I turn my head to look at the source of the sound and saw that boy that had me sign the contract sitting at the edge of my bed.

_What in the…?_

"How'd you get in here?" I asked. I believe the doors were locked last time I checked so, how did he…?

"I'm always with you." He answered with a soft voice.

_OK, creepy would be the word to describe that sentence._

"Soon, the end will come. I remembered, so I thought I should tell you."

I ran various world ending scenarios through my head: Ragnarok, Instrumentality, a space colony dropping on our heads, the moon dropping on our heads after three days, a global outbreak of a biological virus that turns people into zombies. I eventually discounted those and decided to just hear it from the horse's mouth.

"The end?"

"The end of everything… But to be honest, I don't really know what it is… Oh, looks like you've awakened to your power… and an unusual power it is. A power that takes many forms, yet is bound by none… It may prove to be your salvation, depending on where you end up."

_Oh, you're one of THOSE messengers, the kind that likes to confuse me with info that won't make sense until later on. Heh, things always got to be complicated._

Before I could process all this new info, he decided to teleport from the edge of the bed to in front of the TV. You know what, after hearing all this stuff about a hidden hour and Shadows and Personas and seeing it for myself; I will gladly accept that he can teleport. I should get him to teach me how to do that!

"Do you remember when we first met?"

"How could I forget?" He chuckled lightly before continuing on.

"I expect you to honour your commitment. I'll be watching you, even if you forget about me… Okay then, see you later."

And like that, he was gone.

…_You don't need to worry about that. I mean, I did sign the contract. A promise is a promise after all…_

* * *

~**~  
Date: Sunday 19th April 2012  
Time: Evening  
Days until Full Moon: 20  
~**~

I was called down by Yukari to the front hall, where she and Akihiko were waiting by the front door. She just _had_ to call me right when I was in the middle of doing homework. Being in the hospital for a week can really screw up your schoolwork, you know?

"Okay, he's here now. So what's this all about?" Yukari said to Akihiko. I had to wonder what could be so important that they had to call me down as well.

"There's someone I want to introduce." Akihiko started and then turned to the door, "… Hey, hurry up." He said to someone on the outside.

"Hold your horses… This is freaking heavy." A familiar voice spoke, though muffled by the door; I could hear it.

_Wait a minute… I know that voice!_

The entrance swung open and in walked in the cap-wearing Junpei Iori, pushing along several big bags, the ones with wheels at the bottom. Yukari was shocked to say the least.

"J-Junpei!? … Why is HE here!? Wait, don't tell me- -"

"This is Junpei Iori from Class 2-F. He'll be staying here as of today."

Junpei had the biggest grin on his face right now. He chuckled at our reaction.

"Wazzup?"

"It's Jumpy!" I shouted in joy. I was quite happy to see him, and he's staying here!? Oh, the fun we will have.

"Heh, it's actually pronounced _Jun-pei_." Junpei said, the same grin plastered on his face.

"Yeah, that's what I said, Jumpy." I said, smiling. His smile drooped a little. Yukari's face was still locked in a state of shock.

"He's staying HERE!? You've got to be kidding me!?"

"I bumped into him the other night. He has the potential, but he just awakened to it recently… I told him about us and he agreed to help." Akihiko explained.

I was all for this, Junpei seemed like a cool guy and having him around would liven the place up. Yukari wasn't thinking the same as I though.

"You have the potential!? For real!?"

"He found me cryin' like a baby at the convenience store, surrounded by a bunch of coffins." Junpei started to explain, "I don't remember much, but… Damn, that's embarrassing! He said that's, ya know, completely normal… in the beginning. Like bein' confused and not remembering anything. Did ya guys know that?"

"Yeah, pretty much." I said, nodding my head.

"Oh… That's good. You should, since you're a Persona-user… But man, I was shocked to find out about you guys. I had no idea. I'm glad I'm not the only one. It could get kinda lonely, ya know. I bet you're stoked too right!? Havin' me join…"

"Huh?" Yukari was dumbfounded by these series of events, "Uh, y-yeah…"

Me: I just kept smiling.

"Yeah, I am. It's going to be fun."

Junpei then noticed something, and I knew what he was looking at.

"What's that on your arm?" He asked, pointing to my left arm. I still had the COMP on, spending the majority of the day trying to get used to using it.

"Oh, you mean this?" I asked, lifting my arm to show the Gauntlet off, "It's called a COMP. I, um, can't summon my Persona through the _"usual method"_." I wasn't comfortable referring to the Evokers yet, I mean, pointing a gun at your head and pulling the trigger to summon your Persona, even if it isn't real, still made me uncomfortable, "So I was given this to help me out."

"You're still wearing it?" Yukari asked, looking at the device also.

"I'm trying to get used to moving around in it." I stared at it, flexing my fingers, noting the metallic sound that created, "It feels so strange. It's like my arm is part machine when I have this on."

"I almost forgot." Akihiko interjected, "Your friends were cleared for battle today, starting tomorrow; they'll be official members of SEES." He explained to me, I smiled and nodded approvingly, he then sported an excited smile on his face, "I think we're about ready…"

Junpei caught this and rubbed his hands together in glee.

"Ooh, we're gonna go do something? Sweetness!"

_He's so excitable. I think he should calm down a little._

"With this many people, we can definitely start exploring that place…" Akihiko continued. That place? Curious now. Junpei and I didn't know what to expect out of this, but Yukari seemed to have an idea about what he was talking about and seemed extremely nervous about it.

"You mean… Tartarus…?"

"Tartarus…? What's that? …Sounds like toothpaste." Junpei said, absolutely confused.

_Hey, it does sound like toothpaste! I wonder if there's an actual brand called Tartarus…_

"We believe we can find the reason for the Dark Hour there." Akihiko explained, Yukari still looked nervous and even hesitant about bringing it up.

"I hope so…" She said silently.

"The Chairman will give us the details tomorrow night, so be ready." With that, we broke off, leaving Junpei to deal with his luggage, despite his agitated groans.

_Now then Mr Homework, you shall feel my wrath!_

* * *

~**~  
Time: Unknown  
~**~

It felt strange. I thought I was sleeping on my bed like any other normal day. When I opened my eyes however, the normal sight of my room was instead replaced by darkness.

_What's going on...? Am I dreaming again…? This isn't the Velvet Room. Where am I?_

I blinked several times to see if I was just seeing things. After the fifth blink, the sight of two people; an old woman holding the hand of a boy appeared before me.

_What the…?_

They seemed to notice me being there because they began to speak to me.

"Hmm… My, my, you've had a great destiny thrust upon you…" The old woman said, "Poor human, you do not yet know the fate that which is to engulf the entire world." She then turned to look at the boy. "What do you think, my little master?"

The boy cupped his hand around his mouth and whispered something to the old woman. She turned back to look at me.

"…It is my honour to tell you that my little master has shown an interest in you. Poor human, he wants to give you a special gift. It is vital that you receive this gift… Please do not move." She warned. I blinked and when I opened my eyes again, they were standing above me.

"…This will only hurt for an instant…"

The old woman held me down while the boy slowly raised something so it was above my head. For a few seconds, I wasn't sure what he would do. Then, he dropped it. As it got closer and closer, I could see that it was a strange, insect-like creature. Before I could do anything, it landed… In my eye. A flash of unbearable pain shot through my body as I felt the insect-like creature crawl through my body effortlessly. I tried to scream out but no sound came out of my mouth. A few seconds of unbelievable torment and then I slump back, the world around me turning white. I hear the old woman's voice one more time before I fell unconscious.

"You will be the catalyst for a new world to be born…"

* * *

~**~  
Date: Monday 20th April 2012  
Time: Early Morning  
Days until Full Moon: 19  
~**~

I was walking through the main gate, minding my own business until I heard something very interesting from the girls in front of me.

"So, have you heard the latest rumour floating about? Apparently, there's this guy who's just arrived in Iwatodai and he's carrying this HUGE sword!"

"Oh come on, that's ridiculous… So what does he look like?"

"All I know is that he has white hair and was wearing a red jacket."

"Ugh! Is he old or something?"

"No! He's pretty young, and hot!"

"No way! I hope I get to see him!"

The bell indicating it was first period ran. I walked into the building, wondering about what I just heard.

_Someone carrying a huge sword… I kinda wanna see it, just to see how big it is._

* * *

~**~  
Time: Lunchtime  
~**~

"Are you okay? You've been fidgeting in your seat all morning." I hear Yukari ask me, which drew the attention of Becky, Sophie and Junpei who were sitting nearby.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said slowly, "It's just… I had a really strange dream last night… Actually, it was terrifying."

"More so than usual?" Becky asked. My friends knew me well enough to know when something's wrong and most of the time they're the ones who could offer the solution. I nodded in response.

"Yeah." I subconsciously reached up to rub my left eye, "Damn it, it feels like something's got in my eye."

Before they could respond, the classroom doors slid open; Mitsuru walked into the room, and headed straight for us when she spotted us, ignoring the stares of our fellow classmates.

"Can I have a minute?" The way she said it commanded my full attention, which she received, "Come to the lounge when you get back to the dorm. I have something to tell everyone."

"Oh, are we having that talk?" Junpei asked, trying not to let on to the on-lookers what we're talking about.

"I'll save the details for later. See you there." And Mitsuru walked back out as quickly as she came in. We stayed silent for a few seconds.

"…That was rather abrupt." I said, still staring at the door.

"Yeah, she didn't waste any time leaving." Junpei added, adjusting his cap.

"She's probably busy with things like Student Council, unlike us." Yukari said, with a bit more bite than usual. We all caught this and shifted back in our seats, as if though to avoid the deadly aura coming from her.

"Whoa, Yuka-tan! Do I sense some hostility?" Junpei asked, Yukari looked hesitant to comment on that.

"Well, it's not that I don't like her… She's just…"

_She's just what…? Maybe Mitsuru ate her last bowl of Strawberry Sundae! I know that would annoy the hell out of me!_

* * *

~**~  
Time: Evening  
~**~

As instructed, we all went to the Command Room as soon as we got back from school. It took a while before we all arrived and even longer before the Chairman showed up, but once he did, things got rolling.

"Okay, everyone's here. I'd like your undivided attention. For the longest time, Mitsuru and Akihiko were the only Persona users we had. But, that number recently jumped to seven. So, starting tonight at 12 A.M, I'd like to commence the exploration of Tartarus." Ikutsuki announced. Junpei raised his hand like he was in class.

"Sorry… I asked this yesterday, but what's this Tartarus thing again?"

"You haven't seen it, Junpei?" Yukari asked back, Junpei looked utterly confused and didn't know what to say.

"It's no surprise… since it only appears during the Dark Hour." Ikutsuki revealed.

"The Dark Hour…?" Junpei asked nervously

"Just like the Shadows… Interesting, huh?" Akihiko added with a smile, "And it's the perfect place for us to train. You can think of it as a Shadow nest."

"Whoa… Their nest, huh…?"

"But, Senpei… What about your injury?" Yukari asked, looking worried for Akihiko.

"Since Akihiko hasn't fully recovered yet, he'll only come as far as the entrance." Mitsuru explained, Akihiko looked completely dejected at the news.

"…Yeah, I know."

_Geez, poor Akihiko… I know! I'll bring back a Shadow for him to beat up, that would make him happy! …The others would probably kill it before I could bring it back though… Come to think of it, how would I carry it to begin with?_

"Well, I'm sure he won't complain, as long as you don't go too far in. Since we're dealing with Shadows, Tartarus isn't something we can avoid." Ikutsuki said. Junpei stood up in excitement and clenched his fist.

"Relax. I've got your backs." He said with a grin on his face. Yukari looked a little nervous though.

"I'm not so sure about this."

"What about you, Mr. Chairman?" Mitsuru directed the question at Ikutsuki.

"I'll stay here. As you know, I can't summon a Persona."

_Bah, excuses excuses, you could kill the Shadows with your jokes! They're deadlier than any weapon! You're the… Master of Puns! No, no, wait: The Pungeon Master! That's funny!_

I had to supress the giggle that resulted from that thought. That drew the attentions of everyone in the room who looked at me strangely.

"Never mind me." I said in between small giggles, "Just remembered something funny from today."

* * *

~**~  
Time: Late Night  
~**~

We were all walking down the street, following Mitsuru and Akihiko-senpei. I got dragged off to the back by Becky and Sophie who wanted to speak to me.

"Isn't this exciting?" Becky asked, "We get to go kill monsters!"

"I suggest you calm down." Sophie advised, "We shouldn't get too excited over this."

I ignored their bickering and instead focused on the COMP again. I've gotten used to walking around in it, but still, I couldn't help but look at it. The cool metal pressed against my skin… It felt nice and soothing to me. Knowing that this was nearby helped keep me calm. I was brought out of this trance by Becky.

"You haven't actually told us what that thing is." She pointed to the Gauntlet.

"Oh, this is the COMP." I explained, "It helps me summon my Persona, since I can't do it the way you guys will be doing it."

Having some time to kill before we arrived, I loaded it up and brought up the status screen which brought amazed looks to their faces.

"Wow!"

"That's impressive."

I decided to go over the info just in case there was something I needed to know.

_My Persona is weak against Zio skills, and… Mudo skills? I'm weak against Darkness… That makes sense actually…_

"This is going to be the thing that will save my life in there…" I whispered softly to myself, "And everyone else's…"

"What did you say?" Sophie asked, apparently catching some part of that.

"Nothing."

"So, why do you get the cool toy?" Becky asked, half teasing, half jealous of this badass looking Gauntlet. It did look pretty cool but there was a good reason I had it; a reason she didn't know about.

"The circumstances behind my first summoning were… _unique._" I chose my words carefully, not bringing up the theory that Mitsuru told me during my introduction to SEES.

"Well, you were always one of the unique ones." She brought up, though I couldn't tell if that was meant to be a complement or an insult.

"And remind me again, just how exactly that is _his_ fault?" Sophie seemed to take that as an insult though. I wasn't really mad though, like I said, I'm too kind.

"It's alright." I responded with a soft tone. That seemed to calm them down a little as we discussed another topic.

"What about Tartarus?" Sophie brought up, "From what I remember, it's the Greek version of the underworld… So we're pretty much going to go through Hell itself."

"Ah, we'll be fine." I reassured them with a cheery tone, "As long as we stick together, there won't be anything that can beat us."

"…I hope you're right." I heard Sophie mumble to herself.

We eventually arrived outside the gate to… Gekkoukan High!? What are we doing here?

"This is it? THIS is the place? Why HERE?" Junpei asked rather loudly. Though, to be fair, we were all asking the same question in our heads, at least, I was.

Akihiko pulled out his phone and smiled rather creepily at us.

"Just wait a few minutes… It's almost midnight."

The clock slowly counted down to midnight, and as soon as it reached 12 A.M, the Dark Hour began. For a few seconds, nothing happened. But then, the school building began to twist and turn and rise into the air, forming into a tower of immeasurable height. Describing what it looked like would be impossible. Hell, a tower like that shouldn't be able to stand. And yet, here it was, standing before us.

"This is Tartarus." Mitsuru said after seeing our shocked expressions, "The labyrinth that reveals itself during the Dark Hour."

We were too shocked to form words from our mouths, but Junpei was more than happy to voice what everyone was thinking of.

"Labyrinth…? What are you talking about!? What happened to our school!?" He asked rather loudly, though Mitsuru doesn't seem fazed by it.

"Once the Dark Hour passes, everything returns to normal."

Junpei turned his head to Akihiko, who wore that same neutral look he usually had.

"This was the _"nest"_ you were talking about!? But, why!? Why did our school turn into a giant tower!?"

Mitsuru's expression suddenly did a 180, like she didn't know how to answer his question. Junpei eventually took notice of it.

"You don't know, either?" He asked Mitsuru, finally calming down.

"…..No." She answered after a while. Yukari stepped up and gave us her own take on the matter.

"I'm sure it's complicated. Who cares anyway? It's not like it would change our minds about fighting."

"Well, maybe now we'll find out." Akihiko added, "Mitsuru and I have only gone in to take a peek; this will be our first time exploring it. Exciting, isn't it? There has to be some clue in here about the Dark Hour…"

Mitsuru had a slight glare in her eyes as she looked at Akihiko in disapproval.

"Akihiko. I respect your enthusiasm, but you won't be accompanying us today."

Akihiko looked like a kid who had his favourite toy taken from him.

"I know… You don't have to remind me." He said, exasperated from not only knowing that she was right, but also not being able to do anything about it.

_These two act like an old married couple. Are they…? Well, they do look cute together…_

With all that said and done, everyone started to walk to the main entrance of Tartarus, expect me. I continued to stare at the tower until Sophie noticed that I was falling behind.

"You coming?"

"Yeah… Just give me a sec." I replied. I stared at Tartarus, finding something extremely familiar about it but I couldn't figure it out.

_Why do you feel so familiar to me…?_

Noticing that everyone was already near the entrance, I ran to catch up to them

We entered the giant doors into the front hall of Tartarus. It was as extravagant as the tower itself. It sort-of looked like the front hall of the regular school. Only it's much smaller. There was a staircase in the middle going upwards towards a door, a clock off to the left and a strange device off to the right. We all stopped right nice to a motorcycle that was parked there. At first, I thought it belonged to Akihiko but upon closer inspection revealed that it belonged to Mitsuru.

_Never imagined her to like to ride a death trap like that. Well, I guess we all have our different sides._

"Whoa… It's just as cool on the inside." Junpei said, gawking at the environment around him. Yukari and the others looked a little unnerved by this.

"But it sure is creepy." Yukari said.

"This is only the entrance." Mitsuru started to explain, "The labyrinth lies beyond the doorway at the top of the stairs."

"First, we'll have you all get a feel for this place. Why don't you go have a look around?" Akihiko added. To say that everyone reacted with shock wouldn't be an understatement, cause' that's exactly what happened.

"What!? By ourselves!?" Yukari shouted. Oddly enough, I felt calm. It was something about Tartarus that made me feel calm even when I shouldn't be.

"Calm down." I said, "I'm sure that with the seven of us here, we'll be able to take on anything this place throws at us!"

Mitsuru smiled at my words, it seems I managed to impress her with my enthusiasm. I hope I set an example here; it's easier to get through things if you're happy.

"Besides, we're not asking you to go very far." Mitsuru added, "And I'll be feeding you information from here."

"So, you two didn't plan on coming in the first place?" Junpei said, catching on to Mitsuru's words. Everyone looked at the two senior SEES members, nervous about what would happen now.

"That's right." Akihiko confirmed, "We're also going to appoint a leader to make any necessary decisions."

_A leader?_

"For real?" Junpei asked slowly, "One of us?" He then had that huge grin on his face again, "Oh! Oh! Me me me me me! Pick me!" He shouted, flailing his arms around. Akihiko didn't pay him any mind as he thought carefully about who he would choose. After a while, he raised his arm and pointed at me.

"Ross, you're in charge."

Junpei didn't seem so happy about this, though I took it in stride and smiled at our senpei.

"Sure." I said, "I'm more than happy to lead the team."

"W-Wait! Why HIM!? He doesn't look like a leader!" He complained

"But he HAS fought the Shadows before…" Yukari came to my defence. Junpei looked at me with something that resembled respect.

"Seriously?"

I nodded, remembering the fight on the rooftop again.

"That's true, but there's another reason. You four…" Everyone paid attention to Akihiko as he pulled his Evoker from the holster and pointed it at his head.

"Can you summon your Persona's without any difficulties like he can?" He asked. Everyone looked a bit nervous, though Junpei put up a front of bravado.

"Y-Yeah, of course I can!"

"I think so." Yukari said, unsure of herself.

"We won't know unless we try." Sophie spoke for her and Becky. Akihiko lowered the Evoker to his side.

"These are Shadow's we're talking about here. Without your Persona, you're screwed." He warned.

"If you say it like that, then of course we're screwed!" I responded, "C'mon, senpei! Have a little faith in us."

We all started to walk to the staircase until a sudden smashing sound caught my attention. It was the same sound I heard the night I joined SEES. I instinctively looked to my left and I saw a blue door standing on its own, not connected to anything, off next to the entrance. I felt something vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out and it was the same key that was given to me by Igor. Managing to piece two and two together, I figured out what I had to do. Ignoring the curious stares of the others, I walked towards the door, twisted the key in the lock and opened the door.

I was once again in the Velvet Room. I saw that Igor and Elizabeth were in the same spots they always were in. I walked over to the table; I didn't sit on the chair though because I had a feeling I wouldn't be staying here long. It was here that Igor began speaking to me.

"I've been waiting for you. The time has come for you to wield your power. The tower that you are about to venture into… How did it come to be? For what purpose does it exist? Regrettably, you are not yet capable of answering these questions. That is why you must be made aware of the nature of your power."

_The nature of my power?_

I was curious about what Igor meant by that, but there was one burning question that I needed to get out of the way before continuing.

"About that door…"

Seeing what I was about to ask, he answered the unfinished question.

"It leads here, although no-one but you can see it." He explained.

_No wonder the others didn't say anything about it._

"Your power is unique. It's like the number zero… It's empty, but at the same time, holds infinite possibilities. You, my boy, are able to possess multiple Persona's, and summon them as needed."

"Wait, you're saying that I can summon more Persona's than just Jehuty?" I asked, excited about the prospect of being able to call upon more than one Persona.

"Exactly. This is known as the Wild Card. You have at least 200 Persona's buried within the sea of your soul, I haven't seen a guest with this many possibilities before."

_Oh, that is brilliant!_

"And when you have defeated your enemies, you will see the faces of possibility before you. There may be times when they are difficult to grasp… But, do not fear. Seize what you have earned. Your power will grow accordingly… Be sure to keep that in mind. My spare time will soon be scarce. But, please come again of your own accord. I'll tell you then about my true role… the manner in which I can best assist you. Until then… Farewell."

I bid farewell to Igor and Elizabeth and exited the Velvet Room.

I suddenly could see the entrance to the Velvet Room again. I looked around and Yukari and Junpei were standing next to me, looking at me weirdly.

"Hey, are you alright?" Yukari asked, concerned.

"Yeah, what's up? You look like a zombie." Junpei added.

"I went-" I stopped myself before finishing that sentence, remembering what Igor told me.

_That's right, the others can't see the door. Um, how do I get out of this one? … Hold on a minute!_

"…Wait, a zombie? That's what I looked like?" I asked, tilting my head a little.

"THAT's what you choose to dwell on!?" Junpei asked with an annoyed look, "Man, you're like that coach that fell asleep during the Championship game. C'mon man, you're s'posed to be our _leader_."

Yukari looked really annoyed at Junpei now.

"Cut him some slack! If nothing's wrong, then let's get going." Yukari said. I nodded in agreement and went back to the stairs where the others were waiting. Becky walked up to me.

"Dude, what was that about?" She asked in a whisper, I leaned down a little so she could hear better.

"It's nothing, we should get moving." I whispered back. All five of us went up the white staircase and entered the gateway to the potential hell that is Tartarus. I wonder what crazy shit we'll end up getting into? For some reason, I anticipated this as well as dread it.

We exited the doorway into a mostly dark hall. The walls were covered with spots of blood and the place just oozed trouble.

"So, this is it, huh…?" Junpei said, ready for action.

"I hope I don't get lost…" Yukari said, more to herself than to us. A loud beep and vibration emanating from my pocket grabbed my attention. I wasn't the only one to have heard it, because the others reached into their pockets and grabbed something that looked like a headset. Yukari made a motion that pretty much said _"put them on"_. I dug into my pocket and grabbed my headset and placed it over my ear. The sound of Mitsuru's voice suddenly spoke into my ear from it.

"Can you all hear me?" Mitsuru asked, I was surprised at how clear the sound was, the Kirijo Group doesn't make things half-assed, that's for damn sure.

"Whoa! Is that you, Senpei?" Junpei asked.

"We hear you loud and clear, Mitsuru-senpei." I answered, ignoring Junpei for a few seconds.

"I'll be providing audio backup from here on out." Mitsuru explained.

"Wait… Ya mean, you can see inside here?" Junpei questioned, probably wondering what she meant by _"audio backup"_. I was kinda curious as well, seeing how Akihiko and Mitsuru wouldn't be joining us.

"It's my Persona: Penthesilea's ability. I'd like to join you, but the structure of Tartarus changes from day-to-day. That's why outside support is imperative."

"Wait, you mean that the floors of Tartarus are RANDOMIZED?" I asked in disbelief. The others weren't quite happy about it either.

"Well, THAT makes me feel a whole lot better…" Yukari said sarcastically.

"Now, based on your current location, you can expect to encounter enemies at any minute. They shouldn't be too tough, but proceed with caution. Practice makes perfect."

"Roger that, Senpei." I responded. We cut communication with her soon after. I noticed that Yukari was looking off to the side and was muttering to herself. I only managed to catch a few words:

"…Why is she always like that?" She said. I wondered what her problem with Mitsuru was, but I didn't have the time to ponder this. I stepped out in front of everyone and called for their attention.

"Alright, maggots, listen up! Ross here is going to teach you the pecking order."

"Ross, no." Sophie warned me right as I finished that sentence.

"Aw, I never get to do that bit." I pouted, "You always ruin my fun."

"If we can get back on track." She reminded us of where we were. Not that I needed a reminder, I just thought I would liven things up with a joke. We need to think positive! Since everyone going in at once would be overkill at the start, I decided to take Yukari and Junpei along for the first fight, while the others stayed behind as backup. Our first encounter with the Shadows ended well, though Junpei managed to get himself hurt in the skirmish. Yukari summoned her persona, Io, and used a healing skill called _"Dia"_ on him. I noted that she would be best suited as support and continued on. For the second fight, I decided to let Sophie and Becky in on the action. The fight quickly ended when Becky summoned Amaterasu and Sophie summoned Kikuri-Hime.

_How fitting. A Persona is supposed to reflect your personality. With what little I know of mythology, I can safely say they fit the two just fine._

As soon as the battle finished, an image appeared in my mind. It was 3 cards floating in the air. One of the cards images looked like a leaf, the second one a sword and the third one had a picture of a Persona.

_Is this what Igor meant by…? Alright, time to catch a Persona!_

The cards started to shuffle around; I kept my eye on the one I wanted until it stopped. I picked the card in the middle and it was the card of the Persona. A female voice began to speak to me in my mind.

'_**I'm Pixie. It is nice to be of service to you, Master.'**_

_Master? Oh, you don't have to call me that, just call me Ross._

'_**Really? Not many people are that kind to me, so… Thank you'**_

_Why wouldn't people be kind to you? You're adorable!_

'_**Oh…wow. Nobody's said anything like that to me before. You're not pulling my wings now, are you?'**_

_Why would I do that?_

'… **I'm going to enjoy being with you.'**

_Me too, my mind can be a lonely place at times, I could use the company._

'_**How about where you're at?'**_

_You mean, in the real world…? Well, Igor did mention something about summoning other Persona's as needed… Sure! How do I summon you?_

'_**Oh that's simple! Just use the "Change" option on that gizmo you have there.'**_

_You mean the COMP? Did Igor do something to it while I wasn't looking? Oh well, at least it's convenient._

Exiting out of the conversation in my mind with Pixie, I managed to catch the tail end of several complaints about being tired. I suppose it makes sense, fighting Shadows can make one tired very quickly. Hell, I was starting to feel fatigued myself.

"Do you guys want me to heal you up?" Yukari asked, the signs of tiredness clearly showing on her body. I couldn't just let her do that knowing she's tired.

"Don't worry about that. I've got it covered." I announced, drawing the attentions of everyone, including Mitsuru.

"You can use a healing spell now." Mitsuru asked. I don't normally do this, but I smiled smugly knowing who I just acquired for my team.

"You can say that." I pressed the newly installed _"Change"_ option, and saw a list of Personas projected in front of me. Selecting Pixie, I went back and pressed the summon command.

"Come forth, Pixie!" I stretched out my hand and as though a bolt of lightning struck, Pixie appeared in front of me. Giving a little twirl, she used _Dia_ to heal everyone. I wasn't sure how I knew Pixie had Dia, it was like the information was projected into my brain when I acquired Pixie from that card. Her info was also added to the COMP. Good thing too, my memory isn't exactly the best in the world.

Everyone in the vicinity was flabbergasted. Pixie flew to sit on my shoulder; I raised my hand to her, allowing her small hand to high five it.

"Good job." I complimented her.

"**Tee hee, thank you."** Pixie replied.

Everyone was still in shock over what I did. Mitsuru included it seemed.

"M-McHardy, you can summon more than one Persona?"

"It seems so."

"H-How?"

"It just came naturally."

Judging by the impressed looks I received, I must have made an impression on everyone. We could still be in potential danger if we stayed in one area too long. I don't know what lurked in Tartarus and I wasn't willing to risk it.

"Alright, alright, enough gawking! Mitsuru, if there's nothing else for us to do, I suggest we leave."

"O-Oh, right. Well, search for an Access Point; it'll take you back to the main entrance."

After searching for a few minutes, we managed to find one of these mysterious Access Points. When we all got together, we activated it. That feeling of teleportation felt really, really strange. It's hard to describe but I don't like it… Oh well, better than using the stairs. We all walked towards Mitsuru, who had a beaming smile on her face.

"Great work out there. So, how was your first trip inside Tartarus?" She asked. I looked at the others before giving my answer.

"I don't know about the rest of them, but I'm exhausted." I said. I did feel a little worn out, two battles back-to-back was just tiring.

"It must have hit you all at once. Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"Wow… I didn't know I had that kind of power! We kicked some ass!" Junpei exclaimed with a huge grin on his face, before it changed to an exhausted look, "But damn, I'm beat."

"That's cuz' you were bouncin' around like a little kid." Yukari said to him.

"You look pretty tired yourself, Yuka-tan." He shot back.

"I'm still trying to catch my breath, actually…"

"That's the effect of the Dark Hour. You'll become fatigued more easily. But I'm surprised, you all did much better than I expected." She said before turning to Akihiko with an amused grin, "At this rate, they'll catch up to you in no time, Akihiko."

Akihiko shot back an amused grin of his own.

"Heh, we'll see about that."

Time suddenly stopped as that shattering sound reached my ears once again, the card of the Fool Arcana appeared to me once more and a mysterious voice spoke to me.

"**Thou art I… And I am thou… Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana."**

That familiar rush of strength coursed through my body as I felt my bond with SEES deepen.

"The Dark Hour will end soon." Mitsuru explained, "We should be getting back to the dorm."

As we walked back, I spoke with my Persona's about their thoughts, introductions and so on. Hey, if we're going to work together, might as well get to know them right…? Even if they're a part of me. I walked straight back to my room and crashed onto my bed as soon as we got back to the dorm. I imagined that the others were doing the same. Though I was tired, I felt… Happy, if I had to put it into words. It was strange, but then again, the past two weeks have been nothing but strange. I should think about it later on, not when I'm about to collapse. I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

~**~  
Date: Tuesday 21st April 2012  
Time: Early Morning  
Days until Full Moon: 18  
~**~

I was walking through the gate to Gekkoukan High, minding my own business as usual until suddenly, a dude stopped me. He had brown hair, brown eyes and had a smile on his face.

"Hey, you're Ross, right?" He asked, naturally, I wanted to know how he knew that. It's not like my name is common knowledge around here.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Man, I knew it. I heard from Junpei that you're pretty close with Yukari-san… What's up with that?"

"She showed me around the school on my first day here." I told him, smiling. He seemed… I don't know, disappointed. Either that, or is thinking about something.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter. I'm looking for someone with a little more experience anyway."

_More experience? What is he talking about?_

"By the way, I'm Kenji Tomochika. It's nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand, I shook it.

"Nice to meet you too."

"There's a morning assembly, so we better hurry." We walked into the school quickly; I followed him to the auditorium since I still had no clue where I was going.

'_He seems like a nice enough guy. Maybe I should hang out with him sometime.'_

"… That concludes the main portion of today's assembly. Next, we'll hear a word from the Student Council. Please welcome the new President, Mitsuru Kirijo, from Class 3-D." The female student at the podium announced a little while into the assembly. She stepped aside and allowed Mitsuru, who was standing off to the side, to take the stand.

"So, she did get elected. Well… I guess she IS the most popular girl in school." Yukari said from the seat behind me. I tried not to turn around, or else Miss Toriumi would spot me not paying attention.

"You can say that again!" Junpei said, "There's like some kind of aura around her… Besides, this school's owned by the Kirijo Group, right?"

This grabbed my attention, I wasn't privy to that piece of information and it interested me why no-one said anything about it beforehand.

"Is that true?" I whispered to Yukari while still keeping my eyes at the front.

"Yeah, I try not to think about it though."

I paid attention to Mitsuru now as she began her speech.

"As I begin my term as Student Council President, I'd like to share with you my vision for this coming year. It is my firm belief that each of us must accept the responsibility of bettering our school. However, change cannot occur without sustained effort and an unprecedented level of commitment. That is why we must restructure our lives to accommodate this lofty goal. I'd like each of you to dig deeply into your well of motivation, and re-evaluate your convictions… To imagine a bold new future without losing sight of the realities around you. That is the key. I am certain that many of you have your own visions of the future… For us to reap the full benefits of our education, your participation, ideas and enthusiasm are essential. Thank you."

A few seconds of silence, and then the entire room burst out in applause. Mitsuru's speech was amazing; no wonder she was voted President.

"Dang… That was freaking amazing… So… Have any idea what she's talking about?" Junpei asked when the applause simmered down.

"Yeah, I do." I answered while watching Mitsuru walk off the stage.

"Sure didn't sound like somethin' a high-schooler would say… If it was anyone else, we'd be laughing our asses off."

'_Well, he has a point there. There's just something about Mitsuru that makes you want to listen to everything she says…'_

Everyone cleared the auditorium soon after the conclusion of Mitsuru's speech. Some still in awe at her words, some grumbling about the results of a so-called _"popularity contest",_ and some not really giving a damn.

* * *

~**~  
Time: After School  
~**~

'_Geez, Composition's a killer! Gotta feel bad for Kenji though, she catches you falling asleep and you owe her some cake? Hope he's a good cook.'_

I walked out of Gekkoukan High in high spirits. I couldn't wait to get back to the Dorm. Pixie was out with me, sitting on my shoulder looking at our surroundings with a sense of wonder and excitement. I did promise her that I would let her out and about to see the world. I could tell that she was lonely, and she's good company, so I had no excuse. I noticed a group of girls standing near the entrance; it was like they were waiting for something, or someone.

"Look, it's Akihiko-senpei!" One of the girls squealed.

"Where!? Oh, there he is!" The group of girls immediately surrounded Akihiko when he came out of the entrance. He looked absolutely annoyed at their presence.

I didn't even notice Junpei walking up to me until he spoke.

"Have you noticed how popular Akihiko-san is with the ladies? Man, take a look at that… I didn't use to talk to him much, but now I've got a good excuse. I know he's the captain of the boxing team, but… Who woulda thought he'd be such a chick magnet!? I mean, come on! You don't even see girls flock like that on TV! I wonder where they're going…"

Akihiko managed to break free of the fangirls and started walking down the pathway, but like all fangirls, they followed.

"Senpei!"

"Wait for us!"

It was here that Akihiko spotted me and Junpei, he actually looked relieved and somewhat hopeful.

"Hey, are you guys free this afternoon?" He asked, trying not to look back at the group of girls.

_Poor guy. I have to end his suffering!_

"Sure, Senpei, what have you got in mind?" I replied.

"I want the two of you to meet me at Paulownia Mall. You know where it is, right? I'll be at the police station. See ya there."

Junpei looked a little disappointed at this.

"Th-The police station? You mean, we're not hanging out with your friends?" He pointed to the group of girls behind Akihiko. Akihiko looked annoyed at the mention of them.

"Who, these girls? I don't even know their names. They talk so much they give me a headache. Anyway, I'm gonna head out… Don't keep me waiting." He walked away quickly, hoping to get away from his tormenters.

"Awww… Why can't he be more friendly?" One of the girls complained, sighing after finishing her sentence.

"But, that's what makes him so cool!" Another girl said before they ran after him. Junpei looked shocked and amazed at Akihiko's lack of interest in those girls.

"Man, how can he not know their names!? I mean, seriously! Just look at them!"

"What about them?" I said, confused about what he means. He looked at me with the same look of shock. Knowing that he was probably going straight to Paulownia Mall, we head off to said mall.

Junpei and I got to the Mall, per Akihiko's instructions, where Junpei pointed out the police station for me. We went over to it and slid the doors open. We saw Akihiko talking to an officer behind the counter, and it looked like we caught them at the end of their conversation.

"Thank you, Sir." Akihiko said to the officer, he heard us walking in and turned to us, "Oh, these are the guys I was talking about earlier."

The officer looked us over as if he was inspecting something at a crime scene, it made Junpei and I feel really uncomfortable.

"I was waiting for you guys." Akihiko said like he didn't notice the thick atmosphere in here, "This is Officer Kurosawa. He helps keep our squad well equipped. And this is from Ikutsuki–san…" He handed us 5000 yen each. Our faces lit up at the fact that we were just handed some cash. Because who doesn't love money?

"R-Really!? Sweet!" Junpei shouted with a smile on his face.

"You can't fight empty-handed, so find something you like. Officer Kurosawa has connections… But, these things still cost money."

Officer Kurosawa spoke up at this point.

"Of course they do. Nothing in life is free." He said in a very commanding voice, hardened with the experiences that being a cop would bring.

"I realize that." Akihiko said back to him, "Well, I'll see you again. Later."

Akihiko left the police station, leaving Junpei and I alone with Officer Kurosawa.

"I've been informed about you two. My job is to maintain peace in this city, regardless of the circumstances. I'm just an ordinary police officer, but it doesn't take a genius to know something strange is going on here. I'm only doing what I think is right."

'_Wow, how noble of him… Well then, let's see what he has in terms of armour.'_

After getting some new equipment for our battles in Tartarus, we went back out into the mall. Junpei walked off grumbling about the amount of yen we were given. I didn't really get why he was so disappointed, but oh well. I looked at the amount of yen I had on hand.

_Hmm… I have some yen left over… I know!_

"Hey Pixie, want to go see a movie with me?" I whispered to her, noticing a while back that no-one seemed to notice her, except for Junpei but I can think of one good reason that is so.

"_**A…movie? What's that?"**_

"It's a form of entertainment in this world. People go to these places called cinemas. I think I saw one in Port Island Station. C'mon, let's go." I walked to the train station with Pixie on my shoulder. She looked happy with the prospect of seeing a movie. This was a new experience for her and I was glad she looked so happy.

* * *

~**~  
Time: Evening  
~**~

"Hey, I'm home!" I announced when I walked through the door, Mitsuru was the first to greet me.

"Welcome back. Perfect timing, Ross. I want to speak with you for a moment regarding Tartarus. Since Akihiko is still recovering, I want you to lead the team." She explained to me, I nodded my head and smiled at her.

"Sure thing, I don't mind doing that."

"You never know when a powerful enemy may appear, like the one you faced back at the rooftop. So it's best to be prepared. When you want to go to Tartarus, just ask me. And since I'm sure you have other things to do, you may leave the dorm at night as well."

"Cool, I wonder what you can do at Paulownia Mall at nigh-" I felt something moving around in my hair and sighed when I realized who it was, "Pixie, get out of my hair."

_When did she get there anyway?_

"_**Aww, but it's so comfy. Can I stay a while longer, please?"**_

_Ugh, damnit. I can't say no to that!_ I sighed.

"Alright, you can stay there."

"_**Yay! You're the best!"**_ She said, flew down and gave me a small kiss on the cheek. I wasn't used to physical contact like that, so the colour of cheeks immediately went from pale to bright red.

"I-I, what was… that…?" I heard giggling from the other end of the room. The others must have caught sight of that; even Mitsuru chuckled slightly. I walked to the table where the others couldn't resist the temptation to tease me.

"Is there something you want to tell us?" Becky asked her teasing tone more than clear.

"N-Nothing." I force myself to say. I wanted to get away from that topic and instead brought their attention to something else. I told them about Kenji, who Junpei is friends with and the assembly this morning. They were impressed with Mitsuru's speech; though I'm not sure Yukari was all that enthusiastic about it. All the while, I felt something… strange. I didn't know what it was, but it felt familiar. I pushed it aside for the moment and focused on the conversation.

"So, Ross…" I managed to catch Sophie calling my name so I turned to look at her, "I heard something while at school today. I know it probably isn't true, but… Are you- -?"

"What a coincidence! I heard something today too. Jumpy, Kenji told me that you told him that Yukari and I were… What was the word he used again? _"Close"_. What did you mean by- -?"

"Junpei!" We all jumped at the volume of Yukari's voice. Junpei looked especially scared of her.

_Oh shit! She's pissed off again!_

"Now, l-look, Yuka-tan. I didn't say anything really! I just heard the rumour, that's all!" They went back and forth with their arguments. I just looked at my friends confused.

"What's with her?" I asked. Stupid question apparently as the shocked expressions told me.

"Are you honestly that dense?" Becky asked me in amazement.

"Huh?"

* * *

~**~  
Date: Wednesday 22nd April 2012  
Time: Early Morning  
Days until Full Moon: 17  
~**~

Can I go at least one day of walking through the school gates without being interrupted? It seems not as Kenji caught up to me once again.

"What's up, Ross? Huh...? You're all by yourself? Dude, I thought the rumour about you and Yukari-san was true..."

"What rumour?" I asked him, tilting my head. I heard Junpei mention a rumour last night but I didn't get it. Kenji looked dumbfounded.

"… Well, it's not like I care or anything. I got to say though; you and the others had some bad luck transferring here when you did… You know, dude, all the weird stuff that's been happening. How everyone's been saying they're hearing strange noises. Well, you always look so absent-minded, so I wouldn't think you've heard anything 'bout that." Kenji noted while we walk into the building.

_Strange voices…? That's new, maybe it has something to do with Apathy Syndrome… Wait, did he just call me absent-minded!?_

* * *

~**~  
Time: After School  
~**~

Another day, another slog through Classic Lit. I was more than happy to catch a few z's during it because it was BORRRING! I notice that someone was standing in front of my desk and looked up to see Kenji.

"Hey, man, I'm gonna get some ramen after school. You wanna come?" He asked

_Ramen!?_

"I would love to! But… why are you asking me?"

"No reason, really. I just don't have anything to do later... and I thought we could finish our conversation from this morning. So whaddya say, man? Let's get some ramen and talk."

I walked out of the school with Kenji. I suddenly remembered Igor's words about Social Links as I walked down the streets with him.

**"**_**When you use your Persona ability, you must channel your inner strength. The ability evolves as you develop your Social Links- -your emotional ties to others. The stronger your Social Links, the more powerful your Persona ability."**_

_An opportunity to form a Social Link? Cool._

At Hagakure, Kenji and I were eating through our ramen quickly to avoid it getting cold. Kenji wasn't kidding when he said that the ramen was amazing. It was _so _delicious! Kenji placed his bowl on the table and turned to me with an all-knowing grin.

"Well, was I right, or was I right? This ramen tastes great, doesn't it? I bet they put a secret ingredient in it- -something no other ramen shop uses. It's probably a secret spice or…" He winced when he realized what he was doing, "Sorry, my bad. I get all geeked up when I eat here."

I couldn't help but laugh at the concept of that.

"You get geeked up over ramen…? I don't blame you for a second, this stuff's amazing!"

"You do? Really? I mean, you can appreciate the subtle yet disctinct flavor of the soup? ...Wow, you don't look like the type of guy I'd normally hang around with... But I guess looks aren't everything."

_You got that right, Mister!_

"...By the way, man, I hear you and Yukari are close. Damn, boy, you move fast! I mean, you just transferred here. ...I can't blame you, though. A man's gotta be aggressive nowadays. Hey, let's hang out after school again sometime. We'll get some food and I'll tell you about my secret plan... Wait 'til you hear it, dude. You're gonna flip!"

_What was that about Yukari? Oh well… A secret plan, huh? Very interesting._

I could feel a connection form between me and Kenji. I heard the familiar smashing of glass and felt time stop around me. I saw the Tarot card float in front of me, flipping itself to show a portrait of a pair of eyes looking over a fire created from a person's hands. The number of the card was one. I heard the mysterious voice again.

"**Thou art I… And I am thou… Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Magician Arcana."**

When time resumed, I took a glance at my watch and saw that it was 6 P.M.

"Holy crap, it's already 6?" I said out loud, which caught Kenji's attention.

"It's that late already!? Damn, I missed my favourite TV show… Whatever, let's finish up here and go home."

* * *

~**~  
Date: Thursday 23rd April 2012  
Time: After School  
Days until Full Moon: 16  
~**~

_Hmm… What to do today? Kenji's not here, so… Wait a minute. Aren't the athletics clubs accepting members today? Might as well go see if there's a Track Team._

I walked to the gym, after getting lost along the way, and found that there was indeed a Track Team. I walked out to the practice field and nervously told the coach that I was here to sign up. He seemed pleased and called for the rest of the team to gather around.

"This is Ross McHardy." He introduced me to the team, "He'll be joining the team." He pointed out the lone female in front of me. "This is Yuko, our manager."

Yuko had short brown hair tied into a small ponytail and wore a small red clip on the left side, her complexion was a light brown and she had brown eyes. She looked up at me when called upon.

"Hello, I'm Yuko Nishiwaki. Nice to meet you." She introduced herself.

"It's nice to meet you too." I said nervously, not used to being surrounded by complete strangers.

"You're a junior, right? Since we're the same year, you can just call me _"Yuko."_"

The coach seemed to be looking for a specific person within the group of people gathered round.

"...Hey! Kazushi!"

"Yessir!" I hear someone rush to the front of the group. This _"Kazushi" _person had short, spikey black hair and had darkish grayish brown eyes… Hey, what else was I supposed to describe them as? He was wearing the standard PE uniform for Gekkoukan.

"This is the future captain of this team. He's a great runner and scores well in competitions. You two are in the same class, right? Kazushi, keep an eye on the new guy here, okay?"

"You got it." Kazushi turned his attention to me now, "You're the guy who went out with Yukari Takeba on the first day of school, right? You're practically famous."

_Went out…? Wait, what!?_

"N-NO! It-it wasn't like that!" I looked off to the side, twiddling my fingers, "She just showed me around…is all."

The rest of the team had a laugh at my expense.

"Calm down, newbie. I'm Kazushi Miyamoto. You've seen me around, right?"

"Yeah, I think I have." I said after managing to calm myself from that freak out.

"Then, long story short: from now on, you're mine after school. Just because you joined mid-season, don't think I'll go easy on you!"

Regaining some of my confidence, I started to bounce on my feet like I'm ready to take off into a sprint.

"Bring it! As long as you can keep up!"

"Ohhh!" I heard the entire team say out loud in response to that.

"Is that a challenge, newbie?" Kazushi seemed excited about this. Even I, who isn't exactly the most athletic in the world, was raring to go.

"Yes, I challenge you!"

I could feel a bond begin to grow when I made friends with Kazushi and the other members of the team. I hear that familiar smashing of glass and the card appeared in front of me once more. It turned around and this time, the number of the card was seven. That same mysterious voice spoke to me and I wonder who exactly that is speaking to me?

"**Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Chariot Arcana..."**

When time resumed, I saw Yuko stand in between me and Kazushi.

"Alright, alright, break it up you two! Since today is your first practice, just have a look around and then call it a day. I'll make sure your uniform is ready for next time."

After looking around the field, I decided to go back to the dorm. On the way, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. It was a tree. How did I not see that on my way in? Seeing a female student looking at it, I decided to ask her a question.

"Excuse me. What exactly is this tree?"

"Oh, that's the Persimmon Tree. They planted it a while ago. I hear it's going to bear fruit in a couple of months."

"Really? It's a really nice tree." A gust of wind flew by and picked up some of the leafs that fell and scattered them about. One of them landed at my feet and I bend over to pick it up. I examined it from every angle I could.

_Wow, this is a pretty colour._

I decided to pocket the leaf and continue walking back to the dorm.

* * *

~**~  
Date: Friday 24th April 2012  
Time: After School  
Days until Full Moon: 15  
~**~

Since it was Friday, I decided to hang out with Kenji today. He decided to take me to Hagakure again; contrary to its simple appearance, the soup there had a complex flavour that is accentuated by the noodles.

"Hey, dude, your dorm's co-ed, right?" Kenji suddenly asked, "So, can you, like, go into Yukari-san's room and stuff?"

"No." I said casually, continuing to mess with my ramen.

"...No, huh? Yeah, that's what I thought." Kenji said with a grin, "Well, I'm not interested in girls her age, anyway. When it comes to women, I like them to be older than me. What about you?"

_What type of girls I like? Hmm…_

"Well, I believe that age doesn't matter when it comes to relationships. It's the connection that counts. So… I guess you can say I like them all."

"Really now? So, you don't discriminate, huh? That's awesome. Good for you, man." Kenji seems impressed with that.

"...Well, to tell you the truth, I-wait, this is just between us, okay?-I have my eye on someone. This is the "secret plan" I was talking about. I'm going to ask her out. Not that that's a big deal or anything. Well, I guess it IS a big deal since she's a teacher at our school..." Kenji explained to me, looking at his bowl of ramen in thought before turning to face me again, "Anyways, I want you to be there when I ask her out. But you gotta promise you won't tell anyone, okay? Cuz if people find out they'll be all like, "That's inappropriate" or whatever…"

"Sure, I'll help out." I say cheerfully, he seemed happy that I agreed to help him with this.

"Thanks, dude."

I felt the warmth that signified that the Social Link has levelled up. And that voice spoke to me again.

"**Thou art I… And I am thou… Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Magician Arcana."**

"Damn, dude! My favorite TV show is on! Laters!" Kenji quickly finished his ramen and walked out of the restaurant. With nothing else left to do, I finished the reminder of my food, paid the bill and went back to the dorm.

* * *

~**~  
Time: Evening  
~**~

"Oh, hey." I hear Yukari greet me when I got to the dorm, "Hey, Ross-kun. Have you joined any clubs?"

I nodded enthusiastically.

"Yup, joined the Track Team."

"Oh, yeah? That's cool." She responded, "You seem pretty talented, so I'm not surprised. By the way, maybe we should go to Tartarus tonight... With all The Lost, I think we should do anything we can to help... Plus, I didn't have practice today, so I could use the exercise..."

Mitsuru, who was sitting nearby on the couches, looked up from the book she was reading.

"Just don't take it lightly, okay? It's dangerous there."

"I'm aware of that."

I paused right there. Mitsuru was right; Tartarus is a very dangerous place, but regardless, we still needed to train… No matter how much I would rather avoid it.

"You thinking about something?" I hear Becky ask. How do they always know…? Well, we are friends. It's to be expected.

"Yeah, I was thinking about Tartarus. We have to train, but I don't want to risk you all getting ill. If one of those things attack us again, I don't want any of you stuck in bed with a fever." I rubbed my chin, thinking of what the best way to go about this would be. Eventually, I managed to make a decision.

"Alright!" I exclaimed, grabbing everyone's attentions, "Starting from tonight, we'll go to Tartarus at least once a week, twice if everyone's up for it. That way, we'll be able to train while giving all of you ample time to rest."

"You seem serious about this. We'll be able to handle at least three days!" Junpei said. It was unlike me, but hearing him say that with that tone made me give him a strong glare. Everyone in that room tensed up, because until now, I've seem to them as an excitable bundle of laughs and cuteness… Okay, maybe not the last part but seeing me show any amount of anger could be considered _"out of character"_ to them.

"I'm not risking any of you dying because I made a stupid judgement call like that!" I shouted angrily. Junpei seemed to get the message loud and clear as he promptly shuts up. I calm myself down before speaking again, "Alright then!" I said, reverting back to my usual tone of voice, which only served to make the others more on edge, "Yukari, you have a good idea. Mitsuru, we'll be going to Tar- -" I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my chest that sent me falling forward. I managed to catch the front desk before I fell to the ground. I coughed and coughed as the pain subsided. I heard several cries along the lines of _"Are you OK!?"_ and _"Are you alright!?"_

"I'm fine." I grunted once I was able to gain control of my body, "That felt weird."

"…Are you sure you're up for going to Tartarus tonight?" Mitsuru asked tentatively. I could hear the concern in her voice but I wasn't going to let a little fainting spell stop me. I nodded my head and lifted myself back up, noting that everyone looked a little freaked out. Well, it was justified; it looked like I was having a heart attack out of nowhere.

As we made preparations for the trip to Tartarus, I found myself wondering about what just happened. I don't believe I had a medical condition of any sort, so this seemed extremely random. Still, I had to soldier on. Though I couldn't shake the feeling of dread building up in my heart, I need to be careful. I can't… I won't let any of them die.


	3. Week 2

~**~  
Date: Saturday 25th April 2012  
Time: Late Night  
Days until Full Moon: 14  
~**~

I awoke with a start on my bed. I didn't know how I ended up there, the last place I remember heading off to was… Oh crap! Is everyone okay!? I tried to get out of bed only to roll off it and fall on my face.

_Shit, not again!_

I pushed off the ground so my face was not pressed up against the wooden floor. Until I noticed what my hands looked like.

_What…the…fuck?_

They were completely mechanical. I wasn't sure what to think of this. Wondering if anything else has changed, I got up and took a look in the mirror. I stepped back in shock, wondering if I fell into another dream, or Igor was just messing with me. I quickly found that this isn't the case. My entire appearance has changed. The only things that were the same were my skin tone and hair. My body, like my hands, from the lower jaw down was completely mechanical. To describe every detail would be impossible, but the most noticeable feature of my new look, besides the mechanical body, was the cloth the covered my left eye. Kinda like an eye patch. Torn between screaming and… screaming, I noticed a note on the table. Picking it up gently, I read it out loud.

"Come to the front hall when you're awake." Whoa, what was up with my voice? It sounded a bit more… rough. Saving that thought for later, I looked at the end of the note where I saw that it was Mitsuru who signed it. Seeing no other choice, I walked very awkwardly to the door and opened it. It was dead silent; I guess they heard me fall flat on my face. Trying to walk down the stairs in my new form was strange as all hell.

"Who's bright idea was it to give me feet like these!? I'll never be able to get used to this!"

Before I knew it, I was in the front hall where everyone was gathered at the seats. Instead of screaming bloody murder like I thought they would, they looked relieved.

"Thank God, you're okay!" Yukari smiled when she saw me.

"Fell on your face again?" Becky said, even when like this she has the gall to tease me.

"Bite me." My voice made me sound a lot more pissed off than I actually was. I raised my arm to look at it again; the motion seemed to bring everyone back to the problem at hand.

"So… What happened?" I asked the most obvious question on my mind at that moment, taking a seat next to Yukari, "Unless a Shadow managed to make my body explode and the Kirijo Group managed to rebuild me… I hope you can fill in the blanks here."

"You… What the hell were you thinking!?" Sophie shouted, "Charging in like that could have gotten you killed!"

"Yukari would have died if he hadn't done that!" Becky countered. I looked at Yukari, who looked away when I made eye contact.

"Is that true?" I asked her. She nodded her head and turned back to look at me now.

"Why did you do that?" She asked softly. I tried to remember what happened, but it's only vague images, images of a powerful Shadow and pushing Yukari out of the way, driven by a need to protect her. I couldn't remember anything after that.

"I… don't know. I just felt that I needed to protect you." It was a strange feeling, but this wasn't the time or the place to ponder it.

"This letter came in shortly after we came back." Mitsuru said, holding out a sealed envelope, "It's for you."

I took it and using my finger, broke the seal and opened it up, taking the piece of paper inside. I decided to read the note aloud, best to have everyone know what it said.

"By now, you should have discovered your hidden potential, and unleashed it for all to witness. Don't worry, your human form will return to you, if only to maintain the illusion of normality. When you call upon that power however, you will assume your current form. You will require this power for the path ahead. You might be wondering how you came to acquire this power. Well… The answer is right before… right before…" I stopped reading at that part, realizing what the note referred to. I remembered the dream I had, and how I had that… whatever the hell it was, dropped into my eye; my left eye.

"I think I'm going to be sick!" I ran to the bathroom and proceeded to puke my insides out, horrible feeling even when in this mechanical body. After finishing that I will not describe in detail, I went back out and saw everyone look at me with shock. I think they realize what that part of the note meant.

"You said something about something getting into your eye before we went to Tartarus." Becky said slowly.

"There's still more in the note." Akihiko pointed out, and picked it up, "The creature that is taking residence in your body is known as a Magatama. It is the very essence of a demon. I gave it to you so your body would be transformed into that of a demon; yet retain the heart of a human… You are neither human nor demon. You will shape the world to be with your own hands. I have a task for one such as you. Your goal is simple: to simply continue exploring the tower, climb to the top. As you climb upwards, you will be in a better understanding of the role that you have been given. And, hopefully, you will see what I see; my beliefs, and my Reason. When the time comes, I hope you can make the right choice. It's signed _'Louisa Ferre_"

"…So, I'm not even human anymore."

Dead silence. If there was one thing I can't stand, its dead silence.

"This isn't covered in the insurance plan, is it?" I asked jokingly, to break up the silence. It worked, as everyone cracked up at the unexpected comment. Despite being told that I'm pretty much a half-demon now, I feel fine… Strange as it was, then again, I am a little stranger than most folk.

"I'm afraid not." Mitsuru said, smiling, but then it dropped again as she pointed out something, "You might want to know some things we figured out while you were unconscious."

She began to explain several things about my new demon form. Namely, the visor that I can apparently toggle at will to cover the part of my face which is still skin, which I will hereby dub the _"Battle Mode", _and it will standby at the sides of my head when not in use, the kickass sword that comes with this new body of mine, which she took so it wasn't in the way while I slept, and the Gauntlet seems to be grafted into the armour so I can still use it even when in this form. It was also mentioned that I could have lost the functions of my left eye, but I could see perfectly even with the eye patch on, so that isn't a huge problem. We decided to figure things out some other time when we were not tired and I'm not looking like a cyborg… One last thing before I turned in.

"Hey Becky." I called out, "You wanted to cut my bunny ears off, but guess what? Not going to happen!" I then turned on _"Battle Mode"_.

"Deal with it."

"Really!?" Everyone was laughing their asses off, except Mitsuru who was giggling behind a raised hand and Becky who stared at me mouth agape.

* * *

~**~  
Time: Evening  
~**~

"Welcome back." I hear Mitsuru greet me once I entered the dorm. I gave a half-hearted _"hey"_, I was just tired. Hardly got any sleep the previous night, and I collapsed into the couches as a result.

"Hey, are you okay?" I hear Yukari ask. I had to wonder when she started worrying about me so much, probably since I saved her life back in Tartarus and transformed into that demon… Or maybe it was since the battle on the rooftop.

"…Yeah, of course I'm fine. Just didn't get any sleep last night." I answered her, sounding just as tired as I probably looked. I looked at the TV which was showing the news. I listened in on what they were saying.

"_In other news, the Order of Messiah has managed to rebuild their church after the bombing orchestrated by the Cult of Gaia late last month. A Messian Prophet spoke early this morning, stating that: "This was an unholy act against the will of God; we hope that those responsible will be brought to justice." This is amidst growing fears that the two opposing religions will eventually -"_

I tuned out at that point, losing interest in what they had to say. Though hearing all that talk of religion made me think of my own experiences with it.

"God, huh?" I was never really serious about it, but I thought it was nice to have something to believe in… It's quite amazing how easily one's faith in something can be shattered.

"You religious or something?" I hear Junpei ask, I shook my head once the question registered.

"Nah. Me and God aren't exactly on speaking terms." I answer sadly, "But I have no problem with people who do. It's nice to have something to believe in… By the way, Yukari, did we pick up the bow we found before you guys dragged my sorry ass back here?"

"Oh yeah, we did." Yukari suddenly remembered, "That thing came in handy during the fight against those birds."

"You're pretty accurate with the bow, McHardy." Mitsuru commented, "You're on par with Takeba when it comes to that."

"Yeah, you two kicked some ass back there!" Becky added, "But what exactly were you screamin- -?"

"MARK NUTT!" I shouted, remembering the thing I said during that battle every time I fired off a shot.

"Huh?" Every person in that room looked at me in confusion.

"Greatest archer in the world: Mark Nutt! His catchphrase is _'Suck my nutt.'_" And like that, the room erupted with laughter: Junpei's laughter, to be precise. The others reactions range from mildly amused to annoyed.

"Oh god! I remember now. This is what nearly got you suspended back in our old school." Sophie groaned, knowing full well what I was referring to.

"What happened?" Yukari looked curious about what we were talking about. So did Mitsuru and Akihiko. Junpei as well once he managed to calm down.

"Well… Wait, do you want to explain, or should I?" I asked Becky and Sophie, who shrugged. Taking that as a sign that I should explain, I continued, "Back in our old school, there was an archery contest. I was okay at it so I decided to take a shot at it, but I was feeling mischievous that day… So, I signed up with a different name. And what was that name? MARK NUTT!"

"It was absolutely hysterical!" Becky continued, "When they announced him and his catchphrase, the WHOLE room continued to chant _"Suck his nutt! Suck his nutt!" _while he was competing. The only reason he didn't get suspended and was even ALLOWED to compete with that was because the Principal thought it was hilarious!"

This only served to make Junpei laugh even more than before.

"Dude, that is amazing!" He said once he got himself calm again. I was going to make another joke until I heard some familiar music coming from the TV. Fanboy mode: Activated.

"Omigosh, it's Haru!" I squeed. I gave the TV my full attention now, "Awesome! This is just what I needed to cheer me up!" I listened to the song that played, and it was a familiar one; one of my favourites in fact. I even sang along to it I was so happy to hear it being played live. When it was over, I had a huge smile on my face… And then I remembered where I was. I looked around to see the amused faces of everyone around me.

"I didn't know you could be such a fanboy." Junpei said, snickering.

"You can be such a girl at times." Becky added, laughing behind her hand.

"I haven't seen you fanboy like that since the second _Raidou Kuzunoha _book came out." Sophie commented, also smiling. I laugh nervously, rubbing the back of my neck… This got awkward all of a sudden.

"I'm not familiar with this _"Haru"_. Is she famous?" Mitsuru asked.

"Yeah! In the indie scene." I began to explain, "She used to be with a band called D-Va, but now she's gone solo."

"Solo? What happened to D-Va?" Akihiko asked next.

"They split up after their leader, Aya, decided to study music abroad. As far as I know, she's still there… It's a shame really, though I do prefer Haru's solo songs much more than the one's during her time with D-Va." I spent a few minutes explaining why Haru's music kicks ass, until I noticed my phone vibrate in my pocket.

"Oh…" I took it out and saw that it was an unknown number, "Sorry, may I?" I asked everyone, who nodded in return. Having their approval, I flipped it open and held against my ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello? This is Elizabeth."

_What the!? Elizabeth!?_

I'm pretty sure my eyes have widened far more than I thought possible.

_How did she get my number!? This is beyond creepy!_

"Please come to the Velvet Room. There's something we need to discuss."

She wanted me to come to the Velvet Room? Tonight?

"Um… That might be a little difficult." We just went to Tartarus yesterday, if we go and we don't do anything, they'll get suspicious.

"Don't worry. Just use the alternate entrance at Paulownia Mall; you'll know where it is… I'll see you soon."

"H-Hey, wait!" Annnd she hung up. That's just fantastic! How does she expect me to know where- -

"Who was that?" I hear Yukari ask me. I was brought back to my senses and looked around, where everyone was looking at me suspiciously.

_Craappp! How do I explain this!?_

"Oh, um… It was an acquaintance of sorts. She asked me to meet her at Paulownia Mall." I explained, standing up and walking to the door. I heard several shouts from Becky and Sophie, asking me to explain further, but I didn't really have time, "I'll be back soon." And with that, I went out the door and closed it behind me.

_Thank goodness for that. There was NO way I will be explaining the Velvet Room to them._

Catching the late train to Paulownia Mall, I searched around until I saw a blue light coming from the alleyway. Curious, I walked down the dark path and saw the familiar door. Knowing what I have to do, I walked to the door and opened it.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." I hear Elizabeth greet me instead of Igor this time, "I apologise for calling you out of the blue like this."

"It's no trouble… Explaining this will be a nightmare though."

"The reason I called you is because I have a big favour to ask of you. I have been searching for one with exceptional strength. It's been quite some time since we've had a visitor worthy of our attention."

_Really? I wonder how old exactly those two are._

"If you don't mind, will you accept my requests? Of course, once each request is completed, I will have an reward for you. Some requests will involve you taking me outside the Velvet Room, but I'm sure it's not an issue." I noted that she sounded a little nervous while saying the last part.

"Sure, I don't mind."

"Thank you, that is all I require for now. You may go now." I stood up and made to leave but the sound of Igor's voice stopped me.

"If you can spare a moment of your time, there's something I'd like to ask you." He said. I wonder what he wanted to tell me. Up to this point, what he said has been cryptic and I didn't expect this to be any different. I walked back to the seat and sat down.

"Tell me, do you know why the Fool Arcana is special?" He asked. That was a good question. I noticed that Jehuty was of the Fool Arcana, and since it was my first Persona, I can safely say that my main Arcana is that of the Fool.

"Well… The number of the Fool Arcana is zero." I pointed out, "And you said that zero is empty yet has limitless potential."

"Precisely. The Fool Arcana is special because it can become anything by the end of its journey… I wonder what kind of person you'll become by your journey's end. Will you be the same person that just walked in here?"

_Wow, this actually makes sense… And yet I still have no clue what he's talking about._

"I won't know until I get there, will I?" I asked back with a smile. Igor seemed amused by my question.

"Indeed. Now, I've noticed that you've formed a few Social Links."

"Yeah, the Fool, Magician and Chariot. The strength of my bonds is the strength of my Personas, that's what you said."

"Yes, do keep this in mind. It will help you on your journey. Now then, we've kept you long enough. Please do come again, we'll be more than happy to help you." He bid me farewell. I waved back and exited the Velvet Room. I thought about his words about how I will change by the end of our battles, and I wondered what exactly he meant. He probably already knows about my new demonic form, though he hasn't mentioned it… Maybe he was talking about that. Argh, my brain hurts. Maybe a good night's sleep will help. I managed to get back to the dorm at a reasonable time, and walked straight up the stairs. If anyone was still in the front hall, I didn't notice. I was still thinking about what Igor said.

"Hey, wait up." I hear Sophie's voice call out to me. I turned to see her walking down the hall.

"What's up?" I asked casually, leaning against the wall.

"It's nothing important but…" Was it me or did she actually look nervous?

"But…?"

"I was thinking about that news report earlier, you know the one about the Messians and the Cult of Gaia?"

"Oh… That."

"Yeah, I heard you say something about how you and God _'aren't on speaking terms'_… If you don't mind telling me, what could cause you to lose faith like that?"

I thought about that question for a while now, having time alone to your thoughts can cause your mind to wander, and could only come up with one reasonable explanation.

"… I suppose it was the accident 13 years ago."

"Oh… Sorry to dredge up the past."

"It's no trouble… Is that all you wanted to ask me?"

"No. I also wanted to ask if you're going to be free during the holidays. We haven't had a chance to hang out since we got here."

"I should be, not like I have much to do."

"Great!" She seemed oddly happy to hear that, maybe it was just me. What I didn't expect from this conversation was the sound of smashing glass and an Arcana card appearing in front of me. The number of the card this time was five.

"**Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Hierophant Arcana."**

_What the hell? I thought my bonds with my friends couldn't get any deeper… Interesting._

* * *

~**~  
Date: Sunday 26th April 2012  
Time: Early Morning  
Days until Full Moon: 13  
~**~

_It's a nice sunny day and I have nothing to do… Hmm, what should I do today?_

"**You're not very organised, are you?" **I hear Pixie ask from my shoulder. I decided to let her out of the COMP, as she is good company.

"If I was organised all the time then life wouldn't have surprises in them." I said cheerfully. It seems my enthusiasm was contagious as Pixie smiled right back at me, "Hey, do you want to go see another movie with me today?" I knew that Pixie wanted to go back to the cinema so why not give her a treat?

"**Really!?"** She sounded so excited and cheerful. I nodded before quickly putting on my shoes and heading downstairs. I saw Mitsuru and Akihiko sitting on the couches… Well, Mitsuru was sitting on the couch reading a book. Akihiko, however, was lying down and appears to be sleeping. I found it amusing that he had a magazine lying on his face.

"Hello, McHardy." Mitsuru greeted, "Are you heading out?"

"Yeah." I said, smiling, "I'm taking Pixie to see another film... If you don't mind me asking, what do you like to do during your spare time?"

"Oh, I like to stay in and read. Do you like to read books?" She asked.

"Yeah, my favourite series is the _Raidou Kuzunoha _books, but you probably figured that out already. I'm planning to become a writer someday."

"Oh, so you already have plans for the future."

I nodded my head. I love stories, and I hope to add some brilliant ones of my own someday, because the world is full of shitty stories that become popular for no discernible reason and when did I become so introspective…? Whatever.

"You know they're making a _Raidou Kuzunoha _film." I hear Akihiko say from the couch. So he wasn't sleeping after all, but I paid no attention to that because this news has just got me hyped up.

"Really!?"

"Yeah, it's coming out this year."

_This is awesome!_ I walked out of the dorm even happier than before, and I came back to the dorm happier than before (after seeing a great action movie, though it will be small fry compared to the awesomeness of Raidou.)

* * *

~**~  
Date: Monday 27th April 2012  
Time: Early Morning  
Days until Full Moon: 12

Apparently, the principal had an announcement for us. Can't possibly imagine what it's about though, but from what I hear, it's important. So maybe I should stay awake for this.

"What's the deal with this assembly?" I hear Yukari ask behind me, "You think it's about the recent incidents?"

"Who cares?" Junpei countered, "The Principal doesn't know anything about the Shadows anyway. I just hope this doesn't take too long…"

"I know. His speeches always drag."

I turn my attention back to the podium, where the Principal has just begun his speech.

"Ahem. Today, I'd like to tell you about my, um, vision for this school year. As you are aware, strange incidents have been reported on the news lately. It is my firm belief that none of you are involved. However, if we want to better our school, then we all need to accept responsibility for change. Dig deep down inside, and tap into your imaginations... But don't lose touch with reality. As they say, "There's no use crying over spilt milk." This is the key to reaping all the rewards that school has to offer..."

Something about this speech feels familiar, but I can't quite place a finger on it…

"Wait a minute… Doesn't this remind you of Mitsuru-senpei's speech?" Yukari asked. That was it! It's a complete rip-off! Booooo!

"Yeah, you're right… What's up with that!?" Junpei complained. The rest of the assembly wasn't worth mentioning at all, it was such a bore.

* * *

~**~  
Time: Lunchtime  
~**~

It was Lunchtime and I was starving! I had my lunch in front of me ready to be eaten. Fate loves to toy with me however and someone interrupted my consumption of the meat.

"McHardy… I'm sorry, but I need to talk to you after school. I have a special request for you." Mitsuru said once she was in front of me.

"A special request…?"

"I apologize for being in a rush, but I don't feel comfortable asking anyone else. I'll tell you more about it after school, okay? _Au revoir_." And as fast as she came in, she left.

…_That was rather abrupt. Oh well, where was I…? Oh yeah, STEAK!_

* * *

~**~  
Time: After School  
~**~

I was sitting at my desk waiting for Mitsuru to meet me here. I wondered what she wanted; she did say that she wasn't comfortable asking anyone else so it must be extremely important. And speak of the devil, here she is.

"I apologise for making you wait. To make a long story short, I want you to join Student Council."

_She wants ME to join Student Council?_

"Why all of a sudden?"

"Well, it's not like you have to participate in every activity. Just come to the Student Council room when you have the time."

_Is that all?_

"Why me?" I was genuinely curious about why she considered me for the role as a member of Student Council over say, Becky or Sophie. I have no problems admitting that they would probably be better suited for the role than me.

"…Because of your leadership ability. Being President is very time consuming. I'd like to have additional help available in the event of an emergency. You understand my situation... I'm asking you since you know what it's like to be a leader."

I nodded in agreement.

"Of course I'll help, senpei."

Mitsuru smiled at me.

"I knew I could count on you. I'll be waiting in the Student Council room. Come when you have the time." And off she goes again. It was interesting to have a full-fledged conversation with Mitsuru like that.

_Oh yeah, I have Track today, better get moving!_

I went to the track and participated in the club. Everyone there was giving it everything they've got. The work was challenging but very fun. After practice was over, I noticed that Kaz and I were the only ones still on the track.

"M-My side is killing me…" He started to complain. And here I thought he was tougher than this.

"Ah, toughen up you wuss!" I said in response. How am I supposed to be pushed to the limit if my competition gets tired this easily?

"Toughen up, eh? Hmph… Alright!" Oddly enough, Kaz looked happy. "How about you? You okay? You've been pushing the pace. You don't even look tired! What kind of training have you been doing?"

"Special training." I say automatically… Well, it was true! I also have a sneaky suspicion that my new demon powers have a hand in my newfound energy. I suppose it would make sense, I am not exactly human anymore.

"That's what I thought. Or else I wouldn't be like this… Ross… You're crazy." He looked exhausted, and yet I could still see determination in his eyes, "This sucks… You destroyed me. I knew the competition this year would be tough, but I didn't expect to go up against someone like you… I've made up my mind! Ross! One day, I'm going to beat you!"

_Now this is what I'm talking about. Determination to achieve your goals!_

I felt the bond with Kaz grow deeper and… Ah, you know the drill by now.

"**Thou art I… And I am thou… Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Chariot Arcana…"**

"Sorry… I shouldn't get so worked up. Let's get go—ugh!?"

_What the…?_

Kaz's looked like he was in a lot of pain suddenly. Oh crap, I hope I didn't push him too far today.

"Are you alright?"

"…My knee… I think I twisted it… Oh sorry. Let's go."

I was kinda worried about him, but he seemed to be able to walk just fine. So I decided to go back to the dorm myself today. On the way to the front entrance, I saw Yuko, our team manager standing by the shoe lockers. Might as well say hi, since we're going to be seeing each other a lot during club.

"Hey, Yuko." I call out to her. She turned to look at me.

"Oh, Ross-kun… What's up?"

"You wanna walk home together? I hate to think someone like you would be walking home alone."

"Nah, I'm in a hurry today. See you later."

"Alright, talk to you later." I saw Yuko exit the school and started walking home by herself. With nothing much left to do, I decided to just go back to the dorm today.

* * *

~**~  
Time: Evening  
~**~

"S'up dude." Junpei greeted me when I walked through the front entrance of the dorm, "Yo! I heard Mitsuru-senpei asked you to join Student Council! Senpei, are you sure you wanna let this slacker in?"

"I simply asked for his assistance. I don't intend on burdening him with too many responsibilities. Why, are you interested in helping, Iori?"

"Oh, uhh… I'll pass. But, thanks for the offer."

_Slacker!?_

"Hey, who are you calling a slacker!? I'll have you know I ran fifty laps today during Track at top speed!"

"Really? How are your legs?"

"Like jelly!" I said cheerfully, though my body is screaming in agony now that the adrenaline has worn off.

"Ow, ow, ow…" I continually say while walking to the couch. I collapsed next to Yukari who looked at me worried. I smiled at her, trying to convey that I was alright. That seemed to did the trick as she calmed down.

"You've never had that much energy before." Sophie commented. And she was right, before I would never be able to pull off fifty laps, but now, I could do that without breaking a sweat.

"Yeah, I think it has something to do with the Magatama…" I said thoughtfully. I try not to think about it during school, as it wasn't safe. Here though, I feel fine talking about it.

"Speaking of that, McHardy. Have you felt any side effects during these past two days?" Mitsuru asked me, and rightfully so, we didn't know anything about this; so we needed all the info we can gather. Thinking on it though, I didn't feel anything out of the ordinary, other than having a slight headache.

"Well… I have been feeling a lot more hungry lately… And I've been craving the weirdest things, like a Strawberry Sundae with chocolate sauce. I mean, who does that to a Sundae!? It's just the- -" My eyes widened at the implications of what I just said.

_Sickness? Weird cravings? Oh…No!_

"What if I'm pregnant!?" I shouted, clearly terrified. Junpei began to laugh his ass off, while the others looked at me strangely. I think they were trying to tell if I was being serious or not.

"You say the most stupid shit sometimes." Becky said, clearly trying to hold in her laughter, "Where would the baby come from anyway?"

"Hmm… Maybe it might come from my- -" I suddenly felt a soft hand clamp itself over my mouth preventing me from speaking, though I did try.

"You will NOT finish that sentence!" Yukari shouted at me. I had to wonder why she keeps doing that, but nonetheless, complied with her order.

"Understood." I said, my voice muffled by her hand. She removed her hand, and I could see everyone smiling at our antics. After a while, I hear Mitsuru clear her throat.

"Besides that, is there anything else?"

"You mean, other than enhanced strength, endurance and speed? Nothing much." I stretched my arms out and yawned, "Damn it, why do I feel so tired now? I felt fine before…"

"Well, running fifty times around a track doesn't do one any favours." Sophie said like it was an obvious thing.

"Oh, shut up." I responded, and looked up at the ceiling, laying my head back against the couch… Something just feels wrong about this. What is this feeling? "… I feel strange."

"What do you mean?" I hear Yukari ask. That wasn't intended to be heard, I gotta stop speaking my thoughts out loud.

"…Ever since we talked at the hospital, I've been feeling strange. It's like I'm forgetting something. Something very important. It's something that just feels familiar to me. I mean, I have been to Iwatodai before but it's something that… Damn it, why can't I remember?" Okay, now I'm just starting to get a headache.

"Take it easy." Yukari said softly, "I don't want you stressing yourself out. I'm sure you'll remember eventually."

Our conversation caught the ears of Junpei who felt the need to comment.

"You know, you two seem to be getting along quite well. There may be some truth to those rumours after all."

"What do you mean?"

"Will you give it a rest!?"

We both said simultaneous. Which brought everyone's attentions to our conversation. Junpei brought up his hands in a defensive fashion.

"I'm just saying. Ever since Ross arrived, Yuka-tan has been acting a lot kinder. It's only natural that people would talk."

"Talk about what? I'm confused." That's all I could say in response to this.

"You really are that dense, are you?" Becky asked. Funny, I get the feeling this has happened before.

"Huh?"

* * *

~**~  
Date: Tuesday 28th April 2012  
Time: After School  
Days until Full Moon: 11  
~**~

"Dude, I'm so sick of this…" I hear Kenji complain to me. We decided to go out for ramen again. I don't know why, but this place has something about it that just makes you come back for more.

"What, life?" I asked, wondering just what he was going on about.

"Life? Dude, you watch too much reality TV."

_I hardly watch TV nowadays. Isn't Neo Featherman coming back for a fifth season this year? Might have to start watching again…_

"…But, yeah, I guess you can say I'm sick of life. I mean, I wake up, go to school, listen to lame-ass lectures, come home, eat, watch TV, go to sleep… Well, Ross, that settles it. I'm gonna get myself a girlfriend!"

"Go for it." I said, impressed by his enthusiasm.

"Thanks, dude! Soon, I'll have a girlfriend, just like you!"

…_I don't have a girlfriend. Where did he get that idea?_

"Well, I guess I'm gonna go ahead with my secret plan, dude. I told you, right? I'm going after a teacher. I'm gonna ask her out and make her fall in love with me. Her name is Ms. Kanou. You don't know her, do you? She teaches 12th grade ethics. I'm totally acing her class. She's not the most beautiful woman, but she's really cute. She has pretty eyes, a nice little body, and..."

I'll spare you the rest of the details, because he goes on for a while about Ms. Kanou's finer points.

"Hey, man, don't tell anyone about this, okay? You're the only one who knows."

It's that time of day again. Take it away, mysterious voice!

"**Thou art I… And I am thou… Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Magician Arcana…"**

"Dude, I'm getting so psyched! Let's devise a plan of attack!"

We decided to walk back to our homes discussing Kenji's plans along the way. I was curious to see how this would end up. Having no experience with something like this, I have no clue what was going to happen.

* * *

~**~  
Time: Evening  
~**~

"Welcome back." Mitsuru greeted me when I got home. I get the feeling this is going to become a recurring thing, "For your information... The internet line which was ripped apart by the Shadow will be fixed tomorrow. If you have a computer in your room, you should be able to connect. ...Well, that takes care of everything that was damaged... except, of course, Akihiko's rib cage."

"Speaking of the internet." Junpei spoke up from the couch, "You play any online games, dude?"

"You have seen my collection, right?" I spoke as if I was bragging, and to be fair, I kinda was… Now I feel like a jerk.

"Nice. Dude, you gotta check this one out. It's called _"Innocent Sin Online"_. I was totally addicted to it, but then I got burned out. Give it a try." He handed me a PC game box, still in mint condition. The Japanese Kanji for _"Innocent Sin Online"_ was engraved upon it.

_Since we have tomorrow off, I think I'll try it out. Good thing I remembered to bring my laptop._

'**Are we going to see this gaming prowess of yours, Ross?'**

'I think that we are indeed, Pixie."

_Just you wait until- - Hold on a minute! When did you start talking, Jehuty!? And why do you sound like a girl?_

'I am not a girl, I am Jehuty."

…_Right._

* * *

~**~  
Date: Wednesday 29th April 2012  
Time: Early Morning  
Days until Full Moon: 10  
~**~

Today was Shota Day, and Shota Day means that we have the day off from school. I looked at the copy of _"Innocent Sin Online" _given to me by Junpei and decided that I would play it for the day. All this Tartarus business and demon business hasn't left me any time to play any games. So I thought I would relax for the day and enjoy some RPG fun. After the lengthy install and sign-up, I was greeted with an intro screen.

"**Spring, the year 20XX…"**

I saw that I had a message from someone called "Phil".

"**Reality is just a series of events and players acting out what they believe is real. When we accept that fact, our world becomes **_**'reality'**_**. Reality is but a reflection of our thoughts and expectations… But, what if we were merely reflections in another's mirror? Are you prepared to look through that mirror to discover the truth?"**

_Don't challenge me, game. Or you will feel just how prepared I am!_

I was suddenly dropped into an area called _"Lunarvale Hospital"_, and I saw that there was one other player besides me in the area. A _"Reporter"_ approaches me.

"sup xD." I see her message me through the chat, "asl…? oh wait, r u a nub? u r, huh?"

"Yup." I type back.

"oh wow. u haven't even finished generating your char yet… o_O"  
"welcome to teh game! good thing I'm using my low level alt"

"i think its just u and me, this is kind of a dead MMO these days xD"

"You mean, it isn't popular anymore?" I typed quickly, having a bit of experience with using a keyboard.

"sry. i got kinda ooc there =O"

"we r supposed to be our _'alternate selves'_ rite? uhhhh…. yeah =/"

"sooo… what r u gonna call ur char? we can meet up later"

_Oh, I haven't thought of that. I suck at making up names._

"hm… hey, i got a good name for u =3"

"…how bout tatsuya? kyahahaha! that's good, imo"

"i'll change mine to maya, k =D"

_Tatsuya… That's a pretty cool name, I like it!_

"have a little déjà vu? ;P" Maya asked me.

_Should I know these names? Where could… Oooohh! I see what you did there!_

"Heh, that's clever." I typed back, smiling at the awesome reference.

"o rly? i'm impressed i didn't think many people played that!"

"well, if u see any jokers, be sure to rescu me, k? ^^y"

"ne way, i'm usually idling here on my days off... _"  
"so if ur bored, maybe we can level together. it sux to be lonely =P"

_Oh, I'm definitely playing again. And from the sound of things, I have another good reason to keep playing._

"**Thou shalt have our blessing when thou chossest to create a Persona of the Hermit Arcana…"**

"sry, gtg =\"  
"remember, let's think positive! traesto! xD"

I see on the screen that Maya has logged out. Seeing no reason to stay online, I decided to log out as well.

_Well… That was something._

* * *

~**~  
Date: Thursday 30th April 2012  
Time: After School  
Days until Full Moon: 9  
~**~

Since I don't have anything to do today, I thought I would go to Track again. Needed to burn off the excess energy saved up. I was performing some warm ups, cause it would do me no good to pull a muscle.

"Damnit, y-you serious…!?" I heard Kaz say out loud suddenly. And then I heard a thump. I turn to look and saw that Kaz collapsed onto the ground, holding his knee.

"Kaz!" One of our fellow teammates screamed, grabbing everyone's attentions. We all managed to get him to the nurse's office, where he explained what was up with… And he was lying.

"Asthma, huh…?"

"C'mon… We're counting on you to be captain next year…"

"The big meet is next year but don't push yourself too hard. Ross, can you take him home?" Someone whose name escapes me asked. I nodded and turned my attention to Kaz, who looks totally guilty.

"…Sorry, senpei." The two teammates walked out of the room. Once I was sure they were out of earshot, I gave Kaz a stern look.

"…Wh-What? I'm fine, Ross. Um… My asthma's just acting up…"

"Are you sure you're OK?" I asked bluntly. I needed the truth, right here and now.

"Of-of course. It's just my asthma… Argh! I can't do it! I can't lie to you! Ross… I… My knee hasn't felt right… Since that day you first came to practice. Even if I put medicine on it, or massage it, the pain won't go away."

_I figured as much._

"Will it heal?"

"Of course. But, I can't afford to stop training, so I'll work through the pain!" Well, at least he's looking a little happier now.

"… Next year, there's a national competition. There will be participants from all over Japan. The regional meet pales in comparison. I have to win at that meet! I can't afford to put my training on hold! There are a lot of nosy guys on the team. If they find out, they'll keep bugging me about it… Ross, please keep it a secret, alright!?"

…_Damn it, this is going against my better judgement. But it sounds like this means a lot to him… Who am I to stop him from reaching for his dream…? I have no right to do that._

"**Thou art I… And I am thou… Thou shalt have our blessing when thou chossest to create a Persona of the Chariot Arcana…"**

I reluctantly nod my head, which was a huge relief to him, I can tell from the look on his face.

"…If I go easy on it, I can make it home by myself. Don't worry about me. Go back to training."

My better nature told me to help him home, but it looks like he's not budging on this. So, I decided to complete my training for the day and head home. While I was heading for the front entrance, I saw Yuko again, in that same spot in front of the shoe lockers. Might as well say hi, again.

"Hey, Yuko." I call out to her. She turned to face me.

"Oh, Ross-kun… What's up?"

"**Is it me, or do I feel a sense of déjà vu?"**

_Yeah, you're right… What's up with that?_

"You wanna walk home together? I hate to think someone like you would be walking home alone."

"…Okay, sure." She responded this time, smiling at me, "Why don't we stop somewhere along the way?"

"Sure." I responded, before a devious idea came into my mind, "Actually, before that, is the archery team still in practice?"

"Uh, yeah, they should be."

"…I'll be back in a minute." I tip-toed along the corridors, and snuck by where the archery team was practicing without anyone noticing me. I see Yukari, my target, lining up a shot, it seems as though she's trying to go for a bull's-eye… Not if anything to say about it, I have! I stand up, lean back, look up at 45 degrees and, wait for it…

"MARK NUTT!"

"AHH!" She misfires, and instead of hitting the bulls-eye, the arrow hits the grass a little bit in front of her. She definitely knows it was me, and I was not sticking around to face her wrath. So I leg it down the corridor, I ran back to the front entrance where Yuko was waiting for me, looking quite perplexed.

"Just what were you do- -?"

"Run for it!" I shouted, grabbing her hand and running out the front door, not looking back. We eventually escaped the wrath of Yukari and caught a train to Paulownia Mall. Yuko led me to Chagall Café for a drink. It was a nice place; the rich aroma of coffee fills the air. We were making light conversation, my little mis-adventure forgotten.

"It's tough being a team manager…" Yuko suddenly started, "You don't get any respect. The guys on the team all act like little kids. _"Where's my towel?" "Can you wash this for me?"_… I'm not their mother. At least I don't have to worry about gaining weight, since I'm always running around taking care of them… How about you, Ross-kun? Are you enjoying Track Team?"

"Yeah, it's a lot of fun." I told her, taking a sip from my cup.

"That's good." She responded, smiling at me, "I thought it might be boring for you, since you're so much better than everyone else."

"You're over-estimating me. I'm not that good."

"I mean it. You've got your own style… You don't waste much energy. If you have any questions, just ask Kaz... Um, you know... Kazushi. You guys are in the same class, so I'm sure he'd be willing to help you. You can ask me, too, if you want, since I'm the team manager."

She seems to be concerned about me, for some reason. I don't think I would be worth worrying over, but something told me that this wouldn't be the last time we meet up like this. How would I know? Because the voice in my head told me, that's how.

"**Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Strength Arcana…"**

"I've gotta run. There's a show I want to catch. See you at school."

_If I'm still alive, that is…_

* * *

~**~  
Time: Late Night  
~**~

_Alright… No one is up. Now I just need to sneak upstairs and I'm in the clear._

I opened the front door slowly. It was close to midnight, so I had to be careful not to make much noise. I made it all of three steps before a voice stopped me.

"I've been waiting for you… Ross-kun."

I froze, recognising the voice, I turn to the couches and saw Yukari sitting there, looking at me.

"Oh, h-hey, Yukari… What's up?"

"Oh, nothing…" She said with an innocent smile on her face, "Had someone interrupt our archery practice today. Would you happen to know who did that?"

"Nope, don't have a clue!" I was getting a little nervous as she was walking towards me. I backed up until I hit the front desk… She didn't stop walking until she was right in front of me.

"Really…?" I closed my eyes, anticipating a slap in the face for that stunt, instead she did something unexpected.

"Huh?" She pinged me on the forehead, right between the eyes… Okay, had no clue what was going on now?

"That was for earlier." She said, her smile a lot more genuine now. And like that, she walked off, leaving me confused. I sighed, and walked to my room… All the while, I was smiling. Had no clue why.

* * *

~**~  
Date: Friday 1st May 2012  
Time: Early Morning  
Days until Full Moon: 8  
~**~

"Mornin'. It's getting warmer, huh? Well, it IS May already... It's amazing how time flies..." The fact that Yukari didn't bring up the events of last night unnerved me a little, but I was thankful she didn't bring it up.

"True." It was so hot; everyone was wearing their summer clothes, which I admit is a lot more comfy to wear.

"So much has been happening... Ya know, it doesn't seem like the number of Apathy Syndrome cases has been decreasing lately... We're the only ones who can fight the Shadows, so... I guess we should train more, so that we're ready if anything like THAT comes up again. ...Me especially. I don't wanna be a burden on everyone else."

_Where is this coming from? Why is she doubting herself now?_

"You were never a burden." I said firmly. I never considered her a burden at all. Her healing spells saved our lives countless times… And there was something about her that…

"But… Thanks." She said, a bright smile on her face which made me smile as well. We entered the school together, the smiles never leaving our faces.

* * *

~**~  
Time: After School  
~**~

Junpei and I were conversing about the day's events. It was a bore, as usual. He suddenly looked up in the middle of our conversation as though he just realised something.

"FYI, Akihiko-san's at the hospital getting a check-up. He called me earlier, and asked me to bring him something." He sported a wide grin suddenly, "Yup, he knows who he can count on."

"He only asked you cuz you don't have anything better to do after school." Yukari snarked. When did she pop up? I didn't know but Junpei looked surprised and slightly insulted.

"H-Hey, I resent that."

"I'm just kidding." She said, giggling, "So, what'd he want you to bring?"

"The class roster for 2-E."

This made me look back at Junpei with curiosity.

"Becky and Sophie's class? Why would he want that?"

"He didn't say why. I guess it's important though."

"…Well, I don't have practice today, so I'll come with you." Yukari said. She turned to look down at me, "You're coming too, right?"

_The hospital again!?_

"U-Um, I-I'll pass." I said really, really nervously. Yukari didn't seem to pick up on my discomfort.

"Come on, now. I'm sure he wants us there too... It sounds important, doesn't it?"

"He asked ME, ya know…" Junpei pointed out, sounding pretty annoyed.

"If it's important, we should all go together. Right?"

I saw her point, but it didn't make me any less nervous around hospitals. We all went to the same hospital I was in a while ago. I stuck close to Yukari who seemed to remember my discomfort around hospitals as we walked through the halls.

"Are you okay?" She asked me when we got close to Akihiko's room. I stayed silent but nodded my head unsurely. She suddenly grabbed hold of my hand and gave it a light squeeze, out of Junpei's line of sight, "Don't worry. We'll be out of here soon." I was grateful for that. Sometimes, it's the simple things people do that just keep me calm.

We entered that room that Akihiko was supposed to be in and didn't find him. Instead, we saw someone else. A young male, sitting on a chair next to the bed. From the distance we were at, I saw that he was wearing a maroon peacoat, and had a beanie on his head. Underneath the beanie was somewhat messy brown hair and steel-coloured eyes. Those same eyes looked up at us when we approached the bed. I could tell I wasn't the only person nervous about seeing this unfamiliar face. Thankfully, Junpei spoke for us.

"Um… Is Akihiko-senpei…?"

The brown-haired man glared at Junpei from under his beanie.

"…In this room? By any chance?"

We stood there awkwardly staring at each other until we heard footsteps entering the room. We turned and saw Akihiko walk up to us.

"What are all you guys doing here?" He asked.

"We came to see you!" Yukari cheered with that bright smile of hers, "But it doesn't look like anything's wrong with you."

"I'm just here for a check-up."

"Is that it, Aki?" The unfamiliar person said from behind us. I swore that the room's temperature dropped a few degrees when he spoke in that cold tone. Akihiko seemed to be unaware of the tense atmosphere, surprisingly.

"Yeah, thanks." He said, smiling.

"Tch, I don't have time for this shit." He got up from the seat and started to walk to the exit. He went by us and stopped right in front of me.

"You." He said in that same tone, turning to look at me. I felt nervous looking at him; he just looks at you like he's ready to punch you if you say something wrong.

"…Never mind." He says before walking out of the room. The room's temperature somewhat went back to normal as he left, and Akihiko here was none the wiser.

"W-Who was that?" Junpei stuttered.

"Yeah, it looked like he knew me, have I met him before…?" I muttered that last part to myself. My eyes didn't leave the open door he exited. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Akihiko run a hand through his hair.

"He's a friend from school… sort of. You know how the number of Apathy Syndrome cases are increasing? Well, he knew a few people suffering from it, so I was asking him about it. Hey, Junpei, you bring what I asked?"

Junpei let out a huge grin when called upon.

"Of course, Senpei."

Akihiko grabbed the list in his non-injured hand, nodded and then proceeded to punch the air with his injured arm. Knowing of his injuries, we all naturally got worried.

"Y-You shouldn't move your arm…" Junpei pointed out.

"It's nothing." Akihiko brushed all concern for his safety away, "I've wasted enough time already, I need to get back to my training."

"Yeah, Gekkoukan's golden boy! He was born to be in the ring!" Junpei cheered, dropping his earlier point.

_He changed his tune quickly._

"Sometimes, I really don't get you." Akihiko said back, effectively shutting him up with Junpei making a very funny face, in my opinion.

"By the way, Senpei, why boxing?" Yukari asked.

"You mean why did I choose that sport? Well… It's not the sport I like; I just wanted to learn how to fight." He suddenly donned a somber expression and I could see his hand gripped tightly in that leather glove, "I know what it's like to feel powerless… And I don't want to feel that way again." His face went back to that confident look we were used too, "Besides, I'm curious to see how strong I can get. It's like a game, only I'm competing against myself."

"That's an interesting way of looking at it… You know, I'm into games too." Junpei spoke up with that same grin of his.

"Yeah, VIDEO games." Yukari shot back sarcastically.

"Hey, they're good for hand eye co-ordination!" He protested, and not understanding why, I spoke up.

"He's got a point, you know." The other's looked at me like I was crazy, Junpei included. It was like a, _'you actually agree with him/me?' _kind of look. I shrugged my shoulders in response to their stares.

"When he's right, he's right." We walked out of the hospital with Junpei looking more happy than usual.

* * *

~**~  
Time: Evening  
~**~

"Welcome back. A long weekend is coming up, so I suggest we go to Tartarus. It may take some time for Akihiko to fully heal, and I don't want anything like that to happen again. Besides, the number of victims seems to have been increasing. ...I have a bad feeling about that. We had best muster as much strength as we can." Mitsuru explained once I closed the door to the dorm, I noticed that we were the only people here. I walked to the couches and collapsed onto them.

"Are you feeling OK?" She asked. Everyone seemed really concerned about me lately… I don't know how to feel about that.

"I'm alright." I responded, "A lot has happened lately, and it's all starting to catch up to me."

"It's understandable. We had to deal with a lot of unusual circumstances... That's not all, is it?"

_Am I just that easy to read…?_

I sighed and leaned forward on the seat.

"To tell you the truth, I've been having trouble sleeping lately…"

"I know. I saw you tossing and turning in your bed while looking over security footage."

_Wait… They've been watching me sleep!?_

"Okay, that's a little messed up." I pointed out.

"It's for security purposes, but let's not get distracted from the purpose of this discussion. From what I could gather, you've been having dreams and they were causing you great distress… I'm worried about you."

…And I was trying so hard to forget these dreams. The same recurring dream has plagued me since I was a child, and every time it happens I wake up in a cold sweat.

"… I've had dreams… More like nightmares, ever since I was a child. It was the time I was caught up in the accident at the Moonlight Bridge 13 years ago… The one that took my mother's life."

Mitsuru looked shocked that I divulged this information so easily. More likely that she was shocked that I wasn't like the lovable old me, and instead, I sounded tired, saddened and, most surprisingly, afraid.

"…I'm sorry."

"You have no need to be sorry." I said, surprised at her choice of words, "I'll survive… It's just a nightmare… Anyway, you're right about needing to train… To be honest, I have a suspicion that I might be connected to Tartarus in some way."

Huh, was it just me or did Mitsuru actually look nervous? That's a first.

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe it's just my over-active imagination, but…" I rubbed a hand through my hair before continuing, "I've been thinking, why would that Louisa Ferre character turn me into a demon right when we begin exploring Tartarus? If she had intended to do this since the start, I would imagine she would have done that a long time ago… Maybe she was waiting for me to turn up here? But why…?"

"… I'm sure the answer will turn up eventually. There's no use in over-thinking things when we have no other information." That's Mitsuru alright, just like I thought, cold and logical. A nice counter-balance to the more hot-blooded members of SEES, like Akihiko and Junpei, "By the way, this came in the mail for you." She handed me a small envelope with my name on it. Mitsuru decided to leave me alone to read it, for which I'm slightly thankful for. I ripped it open and took the letter out. All it said was three words, but it was enough to put me on edge. Quite frankly, I was terrified.

**"I**** SEE YOU."**


	4. Week 3

Author's Note: I'm so so sorry about this being late. Many things prevented me from getting this done as fast as I wanted to, I don't see this being an issue in the future but it definitely hindered my writing. So, I hope you enjoy and I hope it was worth the wait.

* * *

~**~  
Date: Saturday 2nd May 2012  
Time: After School  
Days until Full Moon: 7  
~**~

To say that I was a little stressed out from last night is an understatement. Very rarely has something managed to unnerve me that much. After the initial shock wore off, I realised that it was a useless gesture. All it managed to do was alert me to their presence, whoever it was. Still, if the plan was to make me paranoid, then they succeeded. I guess I'm not hiding it as well as I thought, because Yuko invited me out to this place called Wild Duck Burger after school when she saw me. I couldn't say that I didn't appreciate it; I needed to take my mind off things for a while. Wild Duck Burger was like any other fast food joint I've been to, except it was Japanese. All this time, I noticed that Yuko didn't look happy at all.

"I'm mentally exhausted…" She said sadly, messing around with her chips.

"What's wrong?" I ask, putting my burger down and gave her my full attention.

"Well, it's nothing major. Maybe I exaggerated a bit…"

_Well, at least she's looking a little happier now._

"But seriously, I have been feeling kind of down lately…"

"Care to share?" I ask her, taking a sip out of my cola bottle.

"It's a long story…" She replied.

"I'm a good listener." I countered, making sure to make eye contact. After a few moments, she relaxed and started to tell me what was wrong.

"Mr. Ekoda asked to speak with me. He wanted to know why I turned in a blank quiz. He asked me, _"Don't you have any motivation?"_ I answered honestly; I said, _"Not really."_ Then, he got so pissed off! He even yelled at me about the length of my skirt! Who cares about Classic Literature anyway!? Besides, I didn't do anything wrong! Right, Ross-kun!?"

"Well… I do love stories, but I agree that you didn't do anything wrong here."

"Exactly." She said happily, "Doesn't he realise we're only teenagers? Now's the time to enjoy life! Who cares about stories about a bunch of dead old guys!?"

_I do!_

"Maybe I should be a science major. Then, I wouldn't have to take Classic Literature… Wait. Then I'd have to take Physics…"

"And that would mean taking Math, and nobody said there'd be Math! I blame our schools!" I said the last part in a sing-song voice. Yuko giggled at the randomness.

"… I'm gonna write down something on the quizzes from now on. I don't want him to reprimand me again. My reputation as an _"intellectual" _would be ruined." She said, blushing.

"Well, that is true." I said sincerely. Yuko looked shocked to hear that.

"That was a joke…" She said. I raised an eyebrow, "Y-You're supposed to play along!" She seemed embarrassed now. "I didn't mean to trick you… Is my nose getting longer!? You're so gullible… You shouldn't believe everything people say."

_Gullible?_

"Mr. Ekoda asked me to write a three page essay, reflecting on my performance in his class… Three pages!? Is he serious!? What does he expect me to say!? But I guess I have no choice, if I want to graduate. Otherwise, I'll have to repeat his class. I can't wait to celebrate graduation with everyone, especially the team… And you too, Ross-kun… Or, am I getting ahead of myself?"

"I'm only staying for the year though…" I said sadly, but perked up a little as a thought entered my mind, "Although… I don't really have a home… And I really do love Japan… So maybe I could…"

"Are you alright?" She asked, sounding concerned. I broke out of my stupor and looked at her.

"I'm always alright." I responded. She didn't look convinced though, she mumbled something under her breath that I didn't catch.

_Hmm? What was that last part? Oh well, sounds like she's cheered up for the moment, that's good._

"**Thou art I… And I am thou… Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Strength Arcana…"**

"I have to go work on my essay. Bye-bye." She said, getting off her seat and leaving the Wild Duck Burger. I finished off my burger and left as well (not before grabbing my half-full cola bottle, because let's be honest, would you let that go to waste?)

* * *

~**~  
Time: Evening  
~**~

"Sup, dude?" Junpei greeted me from the couches, "Three day weekend starting tomorrow! I asked some peeps if they wanted to hang out, but the only ones interested were guys… Man, I don't want no sausage fest…"

"I don't mean to interrupt, but need I remind you that midterms are quickly approaching? You had best use your time wisely." Mitsuru totally interrupted. I heard Yukari sigh from the couch.

"You HAD to remind me…"

"Crap! I totally forgot about midterms!" I groaned. Can you hardly blame me? With everything's that happened, you can forgive me forgetting about school a little. And I had one more thing to worry about now so the very last thing on my mind was exams.

"You haven't studied, have you?" Junpei asked me, smiling a little. I shook my head.

"I have studied. Not as much as I would like, but you could forgive that given the circumstances."

"I'm amazed you were able to keep on top of everything, all things considered." Sophie commented. I sighed and rubbed a hand through my hair.

"And now we have an even bigger problem on our hands."

"What do you mean?" Mitsuru asked. I took the note from last night out of my pocket and held it up.

"Either someone's pulled a really good joke, or something is keeping a watchful eye on us." I didn't show my fear, because if I start to panic then the others will follow suit. I handed Mitsuru the note. As she read the three word letter, I could see her expression change ever so slightly. I could tell that she was worried, "I think we need to be more careful when we go to Tartarus."

"You're not actually scared, are you?" Junpei asked, there was a tone to his voice that I couldn't quite place… It sounds almost mocking.

"Of course I'm scared." I said contrary to my cheerful tone, "Though I think hospitals creep me out a bit more. I mean, we don't even know what we're dealing with here… In the end though, it's a useless gesture." I sat beside Yukari; swinging my leg over my other one, resting my head on my fist, smiling, "All they managed to do was alert me to their presence… I'm not sure who sent it, but I think we can handle it. Being a half-demon has its advantages. I mean, I could be the strongest person in the world at the moment thanks to this power and combined with everyone else and our Personas, we'll be unstoppabl- I'm rambling, aren't I?"

"Yes." Becky and Sophie said simultaneously, smiling at me knowingly.

"Oh… Sorry about that. I tend to ramble when I have stuff on my mind."

"Would that _"stuff"_ on your mind happen to be a girl called Yuko Nishiwaki." Junpei suggested, grinning widely.

"What do you mean?" I ask him, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I saw you two walking to Wild Duck Burger together. I'm actually surprised. First Yuka-tan, now her. A regular old Casanova."

"You have a one track mind, don't you?" Sophie asked, crossing her arms. I heard Yukari growl in frustration.

"Junpei does bring up a good point." Becky countered, with a similar grin, "What's the story there?"

"I just handed Mitsuru a note suggesting that we might be stalked by something and you want to talk about my social life?" I asked incredulously. Sophie seemed to share my thoughts as she gave Becky a look like mine.

"…Yeah." She said like it was the simplest thing in the world. After a few moments, I answered her question.

"Well…" I started, "It's nothing like what you're thinking. I'm on the Track Team and she's the team manager. It's only natural that she would ask me out to talk about the team and stuff."

"Stuff?"

"Yeah, you know… Just stuff, random stuff, stuff that is random." I said quickly, trying not to stutter. Damn it, why am I so nervous now? "Anyway, what do you guys think? Fancy a trip to Tartarus?"

"Why do you ask?" Sophie asked.

"Well, you know; midterms are coming up and I doubt we'll be able to go to Tartarus during exam week… So, might as well get as much training as we can. I'm also curious about my demonic abilities… I wonder what else I'm capable of… Feet… I wonder if…"

"What are you thinking?" Yukari asked, with a curious expression. I got up and stood off near the front door where I'll have space.

"My demon feet are extremely strange; they're like women's high heels except they are feet. It makes walking up stairs a little strange, but since they're shaped that way…" I transformed into my demon self and pulled out my sword, "I might be able to do something like this!"

I threw it in the air and using my right foot, caught it by the handle so the blade was pointing straight out in front of me. I heard several gasps from the others; I'm guessing that action surprised them. Curious about how fast I can move like this, I started to kick with the sword handle still in my foot. I could hear the satisfying sounds of the blade cutting through the air at a ridiculously fast speed repeatedly. I think that's enough swordplay, this technique will come in handy. "Ha!" I let out, flipping the sword up and catching it with my hand. I ran the blunt end of the blade across my other arm, gave it a twirl and sheathed it. I assumed my human form and looked at the others, a huge smile on my face. The first words I heard:

"Showoff." Becky said, smiling at me

"Impressive." Mitsuru added, also smiling, "It seems like you're getting used to your new abilities."

"Anyway." I cut in before anyone could get another word in, "Tartarus: yes or no?"

Everyone nodded their heads in affirmation; it seems we were going to Tartarus tonight.

* * *

~**~  
Time: The Dark Hour  
~**~

"Hi, how have you been?"

_Who dares interrupt my beauty sleep!? Don't you know I need at least 8 hours of sleep a day to continue looking fabulous!?_

I turn to the source of the voice and lo and behold, it was the kid again. I hear him chuckling under his breath.

_Cheeky little…! He knows!_

"You again?"

"It's been a while. Are you well?"

"Well, considering you just woke me up from my beauty sleep, the answer will probably be no."

He chuckled again in response.

"One week from now, there will be a full moon… Be careful, a new ordeal awaits you."

"What's so special about a full moon?"

"On such days, you will face your greatest challenges."

_Brilliant. First, the creepy note, now this. I get the feeling someone hates me._

"You must prepare for the ordeal, but time is of the essence… I'm sure you're aware of that, of course."

He teleported from my bed to near the TV again.

"I'll come see you again when it's over. Goodbye for now."

And off he goes, disappearing to… Wherever the hell he came from.

_This is getting stranger and stranger every minute._

* * *

~**~  
Date: Sunday 3rd May 2012  
Time: Morning  
Days until Full Moon: 6  
~**~

Sunday once again, it's Constitution Day and I have nothing to do! I decided to go on my laptop and I see an invitation from Maya to play Innocent Sin Online again. Eh, why not? Got nothing much to do and I could really use a relaxing day after yesterday. Let it be known that Tartarus is killer on the legs.

I logged in and was dropped at Lunarvale Hospital again. A girl in grey approaches me once I arrived there.

"wb, tatsuya *^_^* good to see you again"  
"u remember me rite? =/"

"Of course I remember." I typed back in the chat.

"u really DO remember!1 n_n" Maya said, I assumed she's really happy at the moment.

"this is exactly liek when maya and tatsuya remember. ^_^-b"  
"hmm… what kinda people r we, playing inside on such a beautiful day?"

"Sunshine is overrated." I typed back. Not a huge fan of the sun myself. Fire's bad for the complexion, I burn easy, never tan.

"HahaHAha! dman straight! XD" Maya replied, sounding amused at that I think, "it's not like we're okatu or ne thing irl ne way."

I looked back at my shelf full of games and anime Blu-Ray box sets and chuckled nervously. Not to mention what I keep under the mattress…

"lol… we're supposed to be leveling, but we jus keep on chatting =3  
"but hey, grinding gets old rite? it's more fun talking to u, tatsuya."

I could feel my bond with Maya grow deeper as we played the game.

"**Thou art I… And I am thou… Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Hermit Arcana…"**

"zomg! ummm… i'll be afk for a while, so i'm logging off. sry!"  
"i forgot the big sale ends today =x"

_Sale…? Oh yeah, what was that show those girls were talking about? Tanaka's Amazing Commodities? Might have to give it a watch next time it's on._

I noticed that Maya logged off and seeing no real reason to continue grinding if Maya's not there, I logged off as well.

* * *

~**~  
Date: Monday 4th May 2012  
Time: Morning  
Days until Full Moon: 5  
~**~

_What a beautiful day!_

"**You're only thinking that because you have school off today." **Pixie said from my shoulder.

"Yeah, precisely. School on a Monday? Get real." I replied, getting my shoes on and putting on my hoodie with bunny ears, "So, what to do…?" I thought about this as I walked down the stairs to the front door. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sophie sitting on one of the couches. Strange, I thought she would have went out by now. I walked over to her to see what was up.

"Hey there." I called out to her; she turned to look at me.

"Oh, hey… Do you have a minute to spare?" She asked. It looked like there was something on her mind.

"Sure." I responded, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Not here. Follow me."

I followed her out the door and along the quiet streets until we ended up at the shrine. I've never been to the shrine. It looked very peaceful. There was an offertory box near the entrance to the shrine building itself, a fortune paper booth next to it, a giant tree and a playground… Don't know why that's there of all places, but hey, slides are cool. Sophie took a seat on one of the benches; I looked around for a few seconds before taking a seat beside her. I listened to the wind as it blew by, waiting for her to start speaking.

"… It's been nearly a month since we first got here." She eventually said.

"Yup." I said cheerfully, "How are you liking Japan so far? I know it's yours and Becky's first time here."

"It's amazing. You need to give us a proper tour eventually. You've been here before."

"Hey! Only once. And I think they changed things around since the last time I was here… Besides the whole school-changing-into-a-tower-in-the-middle-of-the- night thing."

We had a small laugh over that. And then the conversation fell silent again.

"…How are you holding up? I know things have been tough the past few weeks and…"

"I'm always alright." I responded immediately.

"… If you say so." She said, I'm not sure if she believes that or not, "I'm sorry if this is getting a little personal. I know you prefer to keep to yourself when it comes to these sorts of things."

"What are you getting at?"

"It's just that… Have you… Oh, it's not that important."

"What's the matter? You know you can tell me anything, right?" I try to pry an answer out of her.

"... I've been thinking about what you said last time. It must be torture for you to be here, after what happened."

"Nah, not really." I leaned forward, looking straight ahead, "I made my peace with the incident ages ago… The occasional nightmare or two, but other than that, I'm okay…"

"Oh… I don't know what it's like, losing your entire family in one night. Becky and I know it's not exactly a happy topic, but… I wish you would tell us what really happened."

"Don't you know what happened already? Car crash on the Moonlight Bridge. I was the only survivor… That's all I know. All I can remember."

"I know that part but… I don't think that's the whole story."

"…What makes you say that?"

"I don't know what it is, but something about this whole situation just seems wrong. Your new demon form, Tartarus, our Personas… And that note."

"… Yeah, I see where you're getting at. I've had a feeling that it might be connected to me in some way, but we don't know anything else though about any of these things. Only Go- -" I stopped myself from finishing that sentence and took a deep breath before continuing, "Who knows what we'll discover, all we can do is keep going."

"… You really meant what you said. You said that the accident caused you to lose faith in God. How did it?" She asked me. I kept silent for a few seconds before answering.

"Let me put it this way; if God was as mighty as people claim, then He wouldn't let all these terrible things in the world happen… Including the death of my family. It may seem selfish to think that, but that's how I feel."

"You're only human, Ross. Nobody can blame you for something like that."

"Half human." I corrected her. Saying that out loud felt strange to me, but I gotta get used to it eventually.

"I refuse to call you that." Sophie immediately responded. Seems like she has a problem with the fact that I'm not exactly human anymore.

"You gotta get used to it because it's the truth."

That was certainly an interesting conversation. I could tell that she was worried about me. Hell, sometimes I worry about me, but I'm perfectly fine. Even though I wish that this uncomfortable topic would end, the voices tell me that I won't be running away from this for too long.

"**Thou art I… And I am thou… Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Hierophant Arcana…"**

"I think we should be getting back to the dorm."

With that, we walked back to the dorm together, silent all the way.

* * *

~**~  
Date: Tuesday 5th May 2012  
Time: Morning  
Days until Full Moon: 4  
~**~

"You were right…" Sophie eventually said, looking at the large tree. She invited me out again to talk, and she took me to the shrine again.

"About what?" I asked, turning to look at her now. Was it the demon thing I was right about, or was it something else…?

"About your demon self… I don't want to call you something like that though, it demonizes you."

"Was that supposed to be a joke? I might have to nick that one."

"Cut the crap. I'm being serious here."

"So was I. Ikutsuki would be proud of that one."

"You were forced into becoming that thing and you haven't complained, not once… How can you stand it?"

"I do because I have to." I say immediately, "It's not as bad as you think… With this power, I can protect Yuk- -" I stop that sentence dead in its tracks, and looked away, hoping that she didn't see the sudden blush on my cheeks. Why did I think of Yukari when I said that…?

"What was that?" Damn it, she heard that part, "Yukari? So what Junpei was saying was true?"

"What has Jumpy been saying?" I asked her confused. There's that thing again, just what in the world is Junpei telling the others?

"I forgot that you're as thick as a wall when it comes to these things." She commented, chuckling, "So I'm gonna ask you, straight and to the point, do you like her?"

"Of course I like her." I reply cheerfully, "She's a good healer, a good archer and a very kind person, besides the mood swings. What's not to like?"

"No, I mean do you _like_ her?"

I stared at her for a few seconds before it clicked just what exactly she meant by _'like'_. My reaction was to blush slightly and started to twiddle my fingers.

"Ah, well, um… I-I… You see, I…" I am completely useless now, "Well, n-not like that… I mean, she is pretty, but… I…" I took a few breaths to calm down before continuing. Me being a stuttering mess will not help a damn thing, "…No, I don't like her like that…"

"I see." Sophie said, looking like she's in deep thought, "Then what was that about protecting her?"

"… I honestly don't know. I just felt like I needed to protect her. I don't know when this started or why… Regardless, I'll do whatever it takes to protect everyone… To see them smile."

"Even if it costs you your own happiness?"

"Yes" I immediately say, firmly and without hesitation. The awkward silence reigns over the shrine once again.

"…What did you do to deserve all this?"

"I dunno." I shrugged my shoulders, "It's not that bad. Other than the weird food cravings, I feel fine. I honestly don't mind it."

"…Damn demons." Sophie said in probably the angriest tone I have ever heard her speak in. I never thought she would be this angry, and at something she couldn't control at that. Seeing this made me think about how the others probably felt about the situation with my demonic powers… I'll have to ask when I have the time.

"**Thou art I… And I am thou… Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Hierophant Arcana…"**

Without saying a word, we went back to the dorm.

* * *

~**~  
Date: Wednesday 6th May 2012  
Time: Early Morning  
Days until Full Moon: 3  
~**~

I am not eavesdropping on their conversation, I swear! I was just walking through the school gate and they were talking really, really loudly.

"Golden Week is over. I'm pretty sad… You know, rabbits can die from sadness."

"Okay… First, you're not a rabbit. And second, that's just a rumour."

"What? No way! I thought it was scientific fact… But speaking of sad… I saw an elementary school kid at Naganaki Shrine the last time I visited. She looked so sad playing all by herself. I felt sorry for her..."

_Not listening, just going. Not listening, just going. Not listening, just going…_

* * *

~**~  
Time: After School  
~**~

"Hey, Mitsuru-senpei." I called out to her on the first floor hallway leading to the library, "Is Student Council in session now?"

"Yes, it's just about to start."

"Well, how about we get introductions out of the way?" I followed her to the Student Council room, and it was literally opposite my classroom… Next time, I'll ask someone where something is before going off and doing something like that again. We entered the room and I saw several people here just working away at their Student Council duties. I stood where Mitsuru told me to stand while she introduced me to the other members.

"Everyone, this is Ross McHardy. He's the one I've been talking about for the past few days. He'll be joining us in Student Council."

One of the members near the chalk board looked at me with great curiosity.

"Ross-kun, huh… I'm Hidetoshi Odagiri. I supervise the Disciplinary Committee." He introduced himself. The girl standing next to him walked a bit forward, looking a tad nervous. She had brown hair, brown eyes and was wearing glasses.

"I'm Chihiro Fushimi, the Treasurer. I'm a sophomore, and um… I'm still learning the ropes, so… please be patient with me, Ross-san."

"Um… It's nice to meet you all." I said, nervously, getting quieter with each word. I felt Hidetoshi's eyes scanning me from the other side of the room. He was silent, which unnerved me a little.

"… You must be talented if the President hand-picked you." He said after a while. I silently let out a sigh. It seems like he wants to get to know me. I didn't really mind since I will be working with him after all… And I will be getting to know him as well.

"**Thou shalt have our blessing when thou chossest to create a Persona of the Emperor Arcana…"**

"…Today, we'll just do introductions." Mitsuru said, "It'll be your job to help us, McHardy. From now on, you have my permission to enter the Student Council Room whenever you need to. That includes after school, too. Thank you, McHardy, for joining us today."

With everything said and done, the Student Council was adjourned for the day. Leaving me free to go back to the dorm.

* * *

~**~  
Time: Evening  
~**~

"Oh, hey… Hey, Ross-kun. Let's go to Tartarus tonight… I'm getting worried since nothing's happened since that da- - Are you alright!?" Yukari asked worriedly.

To put it bluntly, I was not feeling alright at all. I noticed it while walking back to the dorm but it wasn't until I got back that I felt the full force of it. I staggered about trying to stay up on my feet while holding my stomach. I reached out and took hold of the desk to help keep my balance. It felt like something was burning my insides with an Agi spell but a thousand times worse.

"I think I'm dying." I said, my voice hoarse. I was dead serious about that as well. It felt like I was dying. I felt the presence of the others around me, I also felt a soft hand feel my forehead and heard a soft gasp. I was in no state to look up at the person though.

"You're burning up!" Yukari shouted, helping me up and leading me to the couches, "Get an ice pack, quickly!" She barked orders at the others. Junpei immediately went to the kitchen, with the others following close behind. I turn my head to look at her. And she looked absolutely terrified. At what, I couldn't tell, but I could have a guess.

"I feel sleepy…" I said, feeling my eyes droop while I fight to keep them open.

"You WILL keep your eyes open!" She ordered, pressing something against my head; what I assumed is the ice pack she requested, "I am NOT losing you!"

I felt my body cool down as she continued to press the ice pack against my head. I breathed heavily, trying to calm my heart down. I eventually managed to get my body under my control again. Now, the big question on my mind was what in the blue hell just happened?

"Are you OK!? You scared the crap out of us just now!" Becky asked, sitting opposite me and Yukari.

"I'm fine now." I said, between heavy breaths, "I think the Magatama was acting up. I reckon it doesn't want me going anywhere tonight… Ugh, I have a headache now."

"Do you want to be alone for a while?" Sophie asked me. I leaned back into the couch.

"Yeah… That would be nice." I replied. Yukari wasn't having any of that.

"There is no way I'm leaving you alone." She protested, "Not after that."

I stared at her, not exactly sure what to think of what she said. She wasn't going to leave me… Why? I had to wonder, just why? She stared back, eyes full of emotion. I couldn't tell what she was feeling.

"…You heard our leader." Becky said to the others. Looking out of the corner of my eye, I saw that she was smiling a little, "We should leave them be."

Before we could say anything, everyone in the room went upstairs, presumably to their own rooms. The silence in the room was deafening. It was difficult to think like this.

"…Are you sure you're okay?" Yukari asked me. I sighed, still not close to figuring this out.

"I'm fine… Wonder what could have caused that?"

"I was so worried just now!" She shouted, pulling me a little closer to her. I shivered from the sudden contact, not expecting her to do that, "Don't do something like that again!"

"Calm down." I said firmly, I waited for a few seconds and she did just that, looking downwards.

"…Sorry." She said quietly.

"I don't blame you." I said heavily, and scooted a little closer to her. "It was unexpected for me as well. I'm not sure what caused it."

"I'm just glad you're alright… Your hands are shaking."

_Huh?_

I looked down at my hands, which I noticed were indeed shaking… Heh, would you look at that? Wow, haven't felt like that in a long time.

"… I was so scared." I eventually said, I could hear my voice quake and feel my body shiver. "I thought I was going to die… Heh, that would have been a shitty way to go."

I was suddenly interrupted by Yukari pulling me into a hug. I was not expecting that, nor comfortable with it. I visibly tensed from the contact, something Yukari took note of. She pulled back and looked up at me, making me turn my head away, anything to avoid making eye contact.

"…Sorry… I'm not used to…" I said nervously. I was kinda glad that she let go, but yet, I wanted her to hug me again… But that doesn't… Argh, what is wrong with me!? Before I could think on it, she hugged me again.

"…What is this?"

"Someone giving you the comfort you need." She responded, resting her head near my neck. I wasn't sure what to do in situations like this, never had to deal with this in the orphanage. I slowly wrapped my arms around her. I was clearly inexperienced with this, but she didn't seem to mind… I feel happy… Genuinely happy. That's weird… That's really weird. I haven't felt like that in a long time. She let go and looked up at me

"You don't need to hide your pain from me. It's okay if you need someone by your side."

"… Guess I didn't fool you, huh?" I asked, sounding out of breath. It was as if the biggest weight was lifted from my shoulders. I knew someone would notice eventually, even though I didn't want to face it.

"No." She replied, smiling. "You're hiding your pain with all that cheer. That goofy, fun loving side; that's a side of you, but it's forced through. Those jokes are just distracting us from you and the loneliness you feel."

"…It sounds like you speak from experience."

"I lost a father too."

We were silent for a little while. I could hear shuffling from near the stairs, and I freakin' knew it. The others are listening in; specifically Becky, Sophie and Junpei. Poor Akihiko was dragged along, though I didn't doubt that he was curious as well. Mitsuru isn't part of the group because she's above all that. How did I know this without even looking in that general direction? Well, being a demon… half-demon, has its advantages. What to do now? Call them out… Na, to hell with it. I'm going to get this off my chest even if they're listening.

"… My father. He died in that explosion you were talking about back at the hospital. My mum and I were worried when we heard news of the blast, so we tried to get there by car via the Moonlight Bridge… You know how that ended up. I was dumped at the orphanage when I got back home. It wasn't that bad; the caretakers left us to our own devices mostly… But being alone for half my life can be too much at times… I'm sure you know that already though."

"How could you be alone? Weren't there other kids there?"

"Yeah, of course. But they ignored me most of the time. The circumstances behind the accident and my heritage made me the odd one out, and kids can be extremely cruel… Even if they don't realise it."

"Your heritage?"

"I thought you knew about my past already? My father was Japanese, my mum was Scottish… To tell you the truth, I feel more at home here than back there."

"Your file didn't mention that."

"Really? Hmm… Must have missed that part out… Anyway, they weren't married and my mum and I were stuck on the other side of the planet, but we still kept in contact. The last visit was 13 years ago… There was no reason to come back here until now, with nothing to look forward to, no family here."

"You didn't have a brother? Any sisters at all?"

"No, none that I know of. Just me."

"… I never knew."

"You never asked. I didn't want to drag the mood down anyway. We've already got Tartarus spoiling the mood every time we talk about it, no need to pile my problems on top of that. Think positive, that's my motto."

I never thought I would be having this conversation. I hardly talk about myself, so why now? Yukari seemed to be contemplating all this new info I just revealed, well, mostly new info.

"Besides, I'm not exactly alone now, am I? I've got my friends… And you." I said that last part softly. I saw the look of shock flash across her face. I didn't feel confident telling her this, but fuck it, she deserves to know. "You've been kind to me ever since I came here, even after what I became… I'm me, I swear, I'm still me… I've been thinking, ever since talking to Sophie, I've… I'm just wondering… Do you fear me?"

"Of course not!" She protested. She said it with complete sincerity, but I was still worried. I couldn't help it. I've become something different, and humans fear change, it's just instinct and it was something I've been equally guilty of in the past. Of course, it's not every day you get turned into a demon, but the principle is the same. I looked at my knees then back up at her. I didn't know what to think, this whole thing is just messed up.

"…Imagine you were dying. Imagine you were afraid, a long way from home and in terrible pain… Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse; you looked up, and saw the face of the devil itself… That was the night my parents died. The pain never stopped. It never ever stopped. Even after meeting Becky and Sophie, the pain never went away. It never did… Until I met you. You knew everything about my past, and yet still accepted me. Even after I became a demon, you were still kind to me. Not many people are capable of doing that… I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you, and… Could I get another hug?"

Yukari didn't say anything at first, but she immediately obliged my request and tightened her grip on me.

"No problem." She eventually said, "I know what it's like to be alone." We sat there for a while, and I started to get comfortable in her embrace… It feels nice. I feel warm. I could feel my heart fluttering. I didn't understand what that means, but it made me smile. And the others are still there…? Ah, screw them, I need this. And I'll be damned if I let them ruin it. Like all good things though, it must come to an end. We let go of each other. The flash of pain was immediate, and I knew she noticed.

"Are you okay?" She asked, looking more concerned than I've ever seen her. And slightly… sad?

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine." I responded, trying not to let my disappointment show. Which I seem to be extremely bad at lately. Am I honestly that easy to read? And what is that sound? I look around before settling my sights on my stomach, which was making a low grumbling noise… How long has it been like that?

"I'm hungry!" I suddenly said, much to the confusion of Yukari.

"What?" She said flatly. I looked around again, and saw a fruit bowl on the table, with an apple on it!

"Oh, an apple." I grabbed it and examined it from every angle possible, "I like apples. Apples are good." I took a bite and immediately regretted it. It was like I just ate the most revolting thing imaginable. And what do I do with things I don't like? I get rid of it. I spit it out in disgust, and looked at Yukari who probably has no clue what was going on.

"Okay, that's disgusting. What is that?" I asked, pointing at the apple.

"An… apple?"

"Are you sure? Cause I just put hell in my mouth." I put the apple down and looked at the fruit bowl again and saw something else I like. "Oh, would you look at that? A banana." I picked up the banana, unpeel it and took a nice bite of it.

"…Hmm. It's good, but it's missing something else. What is it missing…?" I got up and walked around until a flash of inspiration struck, "OH! I know!" I run to the fridge on the other side of the room, and opened it up. I was planning to have hot sauce with the banana, but I saw something else that got my interest.

"Never mind! I found something better! Fish fingers and custard!" I took out the aforementioned items and grabbed a bowl.

Five minutes later, I was happily enjoying my Fish Custard, Yukari looking at me curiously. And I can't blame her; a combination like this? It couldn't possibly work. But yet, here I was. Munching down on fish fingers dipped into custard… It's actually pretty good.

"You seem happier." Yukari commented, smiling brightly. Though at what, I wasn't entirely sure.

"Yup, never happy when I'm hungry." I took another bite out of my snack, "…Try one." I said, pointing to the uneaten fish fingers. She looked hesitant, but eventually grabbed one and dipped it into the custard. She stared at me, before taking a bite. She looked surprised at the taste of it.

"It's… Good." She said, eyes widened. I had to laugh at her response while she dipped it again and took another bite.

"You would be surprised at what combinations work when it comes to food." I said, helping myself to another bite, "I think I was having another craving there. Heh, that's new. I've never had cravings before all this."

"You think it has something to do with… you know?"

"Could be. I knew it would eventually have a strange effect on my body, but I didn't think it would manifest in having a craving for Fish Custard." I let my mind wander and I came to think about that note we received back when I discovered my demonic powers. It was signed by a _Louisa Ferre_. I wonder who she is, considering that she was the one who gave me the demonic powers. Must be a very powerful demon if she's capable of doing that. No, I shouldn't think of stuff like this. It is majorly distracting… Still, one has to wonder… Are the others still there!? Oh, for the love of…! Gotta give them points for dedication, but now I think it's time to put an end to this. I leaned over to Yukari and whispered in her ear.

"Listen, don't shout; don't make any loud sounds, but the others are listening to us. Near the stairs. They've been there for the past 12 minutes now." Of course, Yukari didn't take this well.

"What!?" She whisper shouted, "How do you know they're there!?" I stared at her with my eyebrow raised. She only gave me a blank look in response… Three, two, one… "Oh… Of course." There it was.

"Question is how do we deal with them?" I whispered back, discreetly pointing to where they were hiding, "First off, we need to get them out of their hole."

"How are we're going to do that?"

"Simple." I whispered before turning my head in the general direction of their hiding spot and shouted, "ROYAI!"

"SHE DOES NOT DESERVE HIM, HOW MANY TIMES DO I…"

Yup. Works every single time. Sophie and her irrational hatred of Riza spell their doom once again.

"Now, are all of you going to explain yourself? Or do I have to get Mitsuru?" I say when they got their guilty asses over to where we were. This had a profound effect on Akihiko, as I thought it would. Fear immediately flashed across his face. Junpei's as well. Sophie and Becky didn't look scared at all, instead, they looked surprised.

"How did you know we were there?" Becky asked.

"You seem to forget who you're talking to here." I responded, "Now answer the question. What were you doing there, and how much did you hear?"

"Well… We didn't hear much, and we were worried, but we didn't want to interrupt your conversation… And also, you two were alone. We were wondering if you two were going to- -"

"Will you shut up about that!?" Yukari shouted, clearly at her wits end. I wasn't really paying attention to the bickering. Man, was this day a killer. I feel ready to just collapse now, I really think I should get to bed now. As though my body was agreeing with me, I let out a loud yawn. Which brought everyone's attentions back to me.

"I'm getting really sleepy…" I say, feeling wiped out after all that has happened. "Time to sleep." I say, getting up and started walking over to the stairs. Before I go though, I turned to face the others again. "Oh, Yukari… Thanks, for everything." I didn't stay to hear her reply, but being able to hear stuff outside my normal range; I was able to hear her whisper something.

"Anytime."

I entered my room, and before I could make it to my bed, Pixie's voice spoke in my mind.

"**Hey… Could you let me out for a minute? I want to ask you something."**

I went over to the Gauntlet, slipped it on and summoned Pixie; who hovered close to me.

"**Um… I was wondering if… If you could let me sleep with you tonight?" **Now this was rare, I've never heard her hesitate before.

"…What?"

"**I was so worried about you. I thought it would help to be there with you, instead of being in your mind… And you don't want to be alone, do you?"**

"… No." I say weakly. I couldn't hide it from Pixie anyway. She and Jehuty can see all my thoughts and feelings.

"**Well, that's that. You deserve the rest." **She said, flying over to my pillow. I stood there for a second before following her, being careful not to hit her as I got on my bed, laying my head on the pillow. She lies down on the pillow, near my head. **"You shouldn't worry, you know."**

"About what?" I asked, looking at the ceiling.

"**About what the others think of your demon form. If Yukari's willing to accept you for what you are, the others will too… She really likes you, you know."**

"Is that your opinion as a Persona of the Lovers Arcana?" I asked jokingly, turning to look at her, smiling.

"**I'm serious."** She said, but I saw a hint of a smile on her.

"There isn't really much to me. I'm not special."

"**That is a big lie, Ross McHardy."**

"I don't really consider myself as important as the others. They are the special ones to me… I need them. I can't imagine me being me without them… Without them, I'd be… Bland, lifeless, soulless." I listed, my face contorted into a scowl.

"**Am I special to you as well?"**

"Of course. You're fantastic, Jehuty's fantastic and I'm sure every one of my future Personas will be fantastic. Oh, yeah, nearly forgot; Raidou film, interested in seeing it when it comes out?"

"**Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" **She shouted excitedly. Thinking about this made me realise another random point.

"Oh yeah… Running out of money." I murmured. I could hear Pixie giggling away at what I said.

"**What sort of date are you?" **She asked teasingly.

"A very bad one." I responded with the same joking tone I usually use.

"**He is very poor at managing his money." **Jehuty commented within my mind.

"Oi, don't you start. Save the pot shots for later if you don't mind."

"**Affirmative."**

"Anyway, time to go to sleep, don't you think?" I told them as I closed my eyes. Before I fell completely to sleep though, I heard Pixie say something. I didn't know what to think, it's been one hell of a day and I only think it's going to get crazier, but at least I can take comfort in this.

"**We'll stay with you to the end. That's a promise."**

* * *

~**~  
Date: Thursday 7th May 2012  
Time: After School  
Days until Full Moon: 2  
~**~

I was on my way to Track Team, with a smile on my face. The Magatama's calmed down now and everything's alright. From what Becky and Sophie told me, only Yukari knows of what I told her and the others really only heard the food stuff. Good; the less people worrying over me, the better. As I walked down the corridor, I saw someone familiar in the corner of my eye. It was the Treasurer from the Student Council. What was her name? Chihiro, that's it. Might as well go say hi. I walked over to her and she looked extremely nervous seeing me.

"Oh… Ross-kun… Um, can I help you?" She asked, looking irritated. Either that or really, really scared.

"I want to talk?" I say, unsure of how to respond.

"I don't have anything to talk about!" She shouted. Her look changed from irritable to embarrassed as she realised what she said out loud.

…_Awkward…_

Without saying anything else, I walked away slowly, towards the Track Field. I did my squats, my running and all that, but I didn't see Kaz anywhere. Where could he have gone? The practice came and went with no sign of Kaz. I didn't have much reason to stick around after practice so I decided to go home. I walked out of the front entrance along with many other people who had just got off their club activities. I reached the front gate and saw someone unexpected. Three guesses as to who it was?

"H-Hey!? Ross! Wh-What's up…? I was just going to sneak into practice…" Kaz said as he spotted me. Alright, time to get answers.

"Where were you?"

"M-My mom kept bugging me, so…!" He looked very troubled by this, it must be really serious, "I went to the hospital… After I told her about my knee, she insisted. She made the appointment without telling me, so there was nothing I could do!"

"Oh, that really does suck." I couldn't help but feel extremely bad for him. Being dragged into a situation and there being nothing you could do about it. I know how that feels all too well.

"Doesn't it? My mom, the rest of the team… Why does everyone have to be like that…" He responded, looking satisfied that I said that, "It gets annoying when everyone around you is so nosy, huh…?"

"Yeah, I know how you feel."

_... Not like that's bad or anything in my case._

"Today, they took x-rays. I'll know the results tomorrow. I don't know why they couldn't have told me today… Oh, hey! Don't tell anyone about me going to the hospital, alright? I'm counting on you, Ross. I-I'm always asking you to keep quiet… Sorry 'bout that."

"It's no trouble, really." I could feel his gratitude for me keeping quiet about his knee. I still worry, but he has a goal to achieve. I shouldn't get in the way of that.

"**Thou art I… And I am thou… Thou shalt have our blessing when thou chossest to create a Persona of the Chariot Arcana…"**

"Alright! Today, the doctor told me to take it easy, but let's get to practice!" Kaz made it all of two steps before realising something, "Wait a minute. Since you're leaving, that means practice is over… Oh well. I guess I have to go home for today. Later, Ross."

I watched him walk down the street before deciding to get back to the dorm myself.

* * *

~**~  
Date: Friday 8th May 2012  
Time: After School  
Days until Full Moon: 1  
~**~

I walked the school corridors with Kenji, wondering where he was taking me. Considering that he hasn't invited me out to ramen in ages, I could only presume that he was working on his top secret plan. Maybe today's the day he'll do it. We eventually stopped in the corridor where the Persimmon Tree laid.

"Hey, thanks for coming, man. Can you wait here for a sec?" Kenji asked me. I smiled and nodded.

"Sure."

"Hey, don't freak out, man! I'm gonna go ask Ms. Kanou out right now!"

_Right now!? Well, he certainly has guts._

"Good luck." I responded, giving him an encouraging slap on the shoulder.

"Thanks, man! I'm gonna go get myself a girlfriend!"

Kenji ran off, with a big grin on his face. I stood around for a few minutes, admiring the colour of the Persimmon Tree's leaves, until I saw him running back. To be honest, I expected him to look as sad as a clown on a cold day of summer, but no, he was looking pretty chipper.

"Hey, man. Listen to this! She said yes! Can you believe it!? She said YES! Just as I was about to ask HER out, she asked ME if I wanted a private lesson! A private lesson, dude!" Kenji suddenly hugged me. I was not expecting it, but I took it to mean that he was really happy about how this turned out.

"Dude, I owe you! I owe you big time!" He thanked me. I gave a goofy looking smile, still surprised by his sudden action.

"I didn't do anything. That was all you, Kenji."

I could feel my friendship with Kenji grow stronger. The smashing glass and booming voice rang in my ears once again. I'm going to get a migraine the amount of times I've heard it. Oh well, at least it tells me I'm doing something right.

"**Thou art I… And I am thou… Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Magician Arcana…"**

"She invited me over to her house, dude!" Kenji continued speaking, "Oh man, I'm not ready for this! I probably shouldn't try to go too far with her today, right? But, then again, she IS an adult, so…"

_What is he yapping about? I'm confused… I don't think he's going to stop talking any time soon._

"Oh, Ross, you're still here? Sorry, man, I gotta get going. Later, dude." Kenji ran off, continuing to mutter to himself. I presume it was about his recent success. Good on him, I say. It's nice to see someone happy. Well, might as well get back to the dorm, need to rest up for tomorrow, it is a Full Moon after all. I walked a few steps before feeling a sudden pounding in my head. I rubbed my forehead trying to get rid of the pain and after a few seconds, it did go away.

"**Are you alright?" **Pixie asked within my mind, sounding concerned.

"I'm alright. Just a headache… I sure hope that isn't a bad sign." I mutter as I walked through the halls of Gekkoukan. I really do hope this isn't a sign of terrible things to come…

* * *

~**~  
Time: Evening  
~**~

"Welcome back." I could barely hear Mitsuru say to me. The headache became progressively worse and worse as I came closer to the dorm and it was beginning to distract me, "Someone's here to see you. She says you two know each other."

"She picked one hell of a time to visit then." I growled, putting a hand on my forehead. "Something's wrong with me and I don't have a clue what- -"

I looked up at the dining table and saw the person who Mitsuru said came to see me standing near it. She had long auburn hair, brown eyes and wore a light brown top and jacket with a white shirt and blue choker. She also wore a miniskirt and carried a bag; she looked like a typical student, but I can tell that she wasn't human. The Magatama flared up from the very sight of her, as though it recognised her. It felt like it was trying to warn me of danger. I didn't blame it; I could feel the extraordinary power emanating from her. How could the others not notice? I had to get them away from her! I transformed into my demonic self, much to the shock of the others, and brandished my sword, pointing it at her.

"Everyone, get away from her!" I warned the others, who still had that look of shock on their faces. The mysterious girl, however, didn't look fazed at all from the sight, almost as if she was expecting it.

"Impressive." She said in a sweet tone of voice, "You figured it out faster than I expected."

"McHardy, explain yourself." Mitsuru demanded an answer, while stepping away to a safe distance "Who is she?"

"A demon." I answered simply, "A very powerful one. If I had to guess, she was the one behind all that weird stuff happening to me recently."

"You catch on quick." The girl complimented, though I can hear a hint of arrogance in her voice. I slowly made my way towards her, putting away my sword. I realised that even if I were to fight her, I wouldn't win. She was simply too powerful. I reverted back to my human self and looked her in the eye.

"I don't think you came here just for a friendly chat, so you can answer a couple of questions. First off: your name. What is it?"

"Oh, I think you know full well what my name is. After all, it was I who granted you your powers." She said so full of confidence. She knew she had the advantage and could easily kill us if she wanted to. Somehow, I doubted she wanted to fight us, which was fine by me because I wasn't willing to risk any bloodshed without a damn good reason. The others gasped, while I stared at her blankly.

"…So you're Louisa Ferre." I said slowly, "You were a little boy the last time I saw you, so what gives?"

"Is that what you saw? Or only what you _think_ you saw?"

"So that was just an illusion?"

_Illusions? Such parlour tricks can get stuffed!_

"Yes. This is my normal form."

"Okay…" So many questions rushed through my mind: why did she turn me into a demon? What does she stand to gain from this? If she's a demon, then what's her true form? Why, why, why? "Why me?"

"Because I need you and your abilities." I grimaced, realising that I, once again, spoke my thoughts out loud.

_I got to stop doing that._

"There is a favor I wish to ask of you." Louisa said to me. Suddenly I feel a surge of power coming from my right hand. I looked down and I could see that an object was materializing, it looked like… a decorative candlestick? What exactly is this?

"The object you hold in your hand is called a _Candelabrum_." Louisa began to explain, "It is a precious artifact from my prized collection. The Candelabra are the flames of life which control the flow of demonic power within my domain: the Labyrinth of Amala, but they were recently stolen by terrible Fiends. The Candelabra grant to their possessors access to the Labyrinth of Amala. However, that privilege is not intended for just anyone. That place is strictly forbidden except for those whom **I** have permitted entry. That is why I would like to ask you this favor. Is it possible for you to retrieve the candelabra - - the flames that light the floors of the Labyrinth- - and return them to me? That is my request… To recover the eleven candelabra. If you are willing to accept this task, then you and your blood will be allowed to enter the Labyrinth of Amala. A fair offer, don't you think?"

_Strange choice of words there…_

I leaned back against the wall, and looked at the others. They remained silent and looked perplexed at the information Louisa gave us. Well, all of them did, except for two.

"Ross, I want you to think about this very, very carefully. We don't know if we can trust her. Hell, she turned you into that thing!" Sophie argued.

"This could help us, though." Becky countered, "If he becomes stronger, then we'll be able to climb Tartarus faster than we could before."

I could see both their points, but I wasn't too sure if this is as black and white as they make it out to be. Something about all this doesn't seem right… Regardless, there wasn't any real reason to decline her offer. It'll only serve to benefit us in the end: I'll become stronger and will have access to a place where I can gain even more power to protect the others.

"… I'll do it." I told her. She looked pleased and smiled at me.

"Thank you… Ross. I knew I could count on you… I mean, I knew you would accept my offer. The candelabra tend to attract each other. That is why I gave you one." She explained to me. Putting two and two together, I figured out what she was talking about.

"So as long as I keep a hold of this, I'll eventually come across the others?"

"Exactly… I'm glad you decided to help me, but I must be going now." She started to leave, but I couldn't let her go without asking one last question.

"Why turn me into a demon?" I ask as she started to walk towards the front door, "Surely there are other, more capable people to do this for you… Come to think of it, why can't you do this? You're beyond powerful; far more powerful than I." She turned to face me, with a look of… admiration?

"If I was capable of doing this myself, I wouldn't ask you, would I?" She started to walk closer to me. I immediately had warning bells go off in my head because I had no clue what she was doing.

_Um, she's getting way too close. Uncomfortable; very uncomfortable! Danger! Danger!_

She placed a hand on my cheek and stroked it. I looked away, partly because I was embarrassed, and partly because I had no idea what to do in these situations.

"Besides… I like you." She said simply, before leaning in closer to whisper into my ear, "There are many trials that you must overcome and terrible deeds to perform… Some of them your own. I hope you can hold to your beliefs, for everyone's sake." She pulled away and spoke normally, "Alas, your heart is locked away from the world." She placed her other hand where my heart was, "Not a hint of Reason… Nothing to guide your path. Don't worry, if you ever get lost in your quest for power, don't be afraid. All you have to do is think of me when you need my aid." With that, she stepped away from me and turned to exit the dorm. All eyes were on her as she left. The entire room was silent and stayed that way for over a minute, until Becky broke it.

"Dude, what exactly did she say to you just now? What did she mean by your _heart being locked away_?"

"It doesn't matter at the moment." I immediately answer then turned to Mitsuru, "I think we should tell Ikutsuki about this."

"You're right." She took off up the stairs to what I presume would be the Command Room to do just that. I stared at the Candelabrum, wondering what I've managed to get myself into.

* * *

~**~  
Time: Unknown  
~**~

_What in the…? I'm… Floating, in a sea of clouds? Okay, I know I'm dreaming again and it's not Igor or Louisa this time. Who is it now?_

"**Who are you?"** I looked around at the sound of the booming male voice which echoed around the cloudy area I was floating around in, **"State your name!"**

"Ross. Ross McHardy." I answer the voice's question immediately, "And you woke me up from my beauty sleep." I grumbled afterwards. I don't know who this voice belongs to, but it had a commanding presence about it. Something about it just made me feel nervous, and I honestly did not know why.

"**From this moment on, your life has been irrevocably changed. The choices you make will no longer bear only on you…" **

I could feel my consciousness slip away as the voice continued.

"**What you do, will create a world!"**

Before I fell back to my slumber, I saw various images. Most of them were too blurry to make out clearly but they all invoke a single word in my mind, a word that sends chills down my spine: Death.

* * *

Coming Soon

Ross: My choices will create a world?

Ross: So this is the Labyrinth of Amala?

Mitsuru: I haven't seen anything like this before…

Ross: What the…?  
Becky: What the hell are they!?  
Sophie: Beautiful…  
Becky: You call that beautiful!?

Louisa Ferre: Only one of you was able to see their true form.

?: Only you can make that choice, Ross McHardy.

?: I swear, by my sword and capote, that I will once again prove victorious!

?: I'll give you ten minutes to decide…

Ross: She's not a puppet! She has a bigger heart than anyone I know!

?: I want to be by your side… Forever.

Ross: Aigis… I'm already a demon…


	5. Special Announcement

Special Announcement

Hey everyone, long time no see. I'm not going to waste any time and get on with this announcement. Due to some security issues (and me being paranoid), I've decided to post any and all future updates to a separate account. Which you can find in the Profile of this account. For the lazy people though, I'll leave the name here:

JehutyFF

(Most. Original. Name. Ever.)

I hope those who read my previous stories will drop by and read the new content I'll be putting out. Including updates to the previous stories I've put here. There will also be cake, so there's no excuse not to go . I'll leave up these stories so those who read these will know what's going on, but I will eventually take this account down. I like to thank those who reviewed and followed my stories and hope you will continue to support me on the new account.


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